


Rise Of Wrath

by adarkworldfantasy



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Horror, M/M, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:31:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 32,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1261426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adarkworldfantasy/pseuds/adarkworldfantasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU/Canon divergence.  After the events of Deep Ground had calmed down, Vincent had hoped that it would been the end of dark legacies reemerging from the past. Now, Vincent is about to find out that this is not the case and he's about to face another foe. This time however, Cid gets caught in the crossfire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Caged inside the core of fire,_  
cultivating impurity,  
the dissentient of Chaos. 

_Omega's chain to the luminous body,  
the binding claws to the lifestream._

_Beware the menace of Wrath,_  
that cloaks himself in shadows  
as he rises from the cage. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[ μ ] – εуλ 1911

"Yet another disappointment," spoke the dismal voice of the scientist as he looked through the observation window.

Dark blood coated the room like an obscene paint job, dripping thickly from the ceiling and table, draining down the window in a eerie fashion. Smoldering remnants of what was once a body was visible on the steel apparatus that had been anchored into the cement floor, splinters of bone and flesh chunked around the buckles that once held the specimen in place.

One of the other scientists walked up the senior scientist, after he had finished emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet in the next room. "Sir...forgive me...but this has been the sixteenth attempt. Don't you think that we should stop-"

"No," the dark-haired man answered in the same nonchalant tone as he had before. "We have come this far, and we have found some improvements. We just need to find the right specimen. More so one that will not combust as these last ones have." There was a roll of his chocolate-coloured eyes, followed by a sigh that held a hint of aggravation within it. He turned and stepped back to the desk and grabbed the open folder and jotted down some more notes on the charts, writing in large letters at the bottom; "FAILURE" He dropped the folder back onto the desk and closed it.

"Viktor, please," the other scientist insisted as he stepped closer to him to look him in the eyes, "obviously we do not have the technology to continue with these experiments. We can't keep going like this."

Victor snorted and tilted his head at him, an eerie calm about him. "My dear apprentice, real scientists do not give up on their endeavors once they have started. We are not stopping now." His wicked smile once again appeared on his face and he patted the man on the shoulder. "Do not worry. We will find a way."

Victor turned and stepped to the large steel door and punched the code to the door on the panel off to the side of it. It beeped and the screeching of metal filled the room as the large metallic doors slid open. Inside the room was a large containment capsule. He walked up to the capsule and smirked as he watched the oily black and yellow substance twist and swirl angrily inside. "We will find a way yet. No fear."

The young scientist stepped inside cautiously, eying the dark substance swirling around in the capsule, as if it was a trapped tornado. He looked at the glass and saw more cracks in the six-inch-thick glass. He shook his head warily as he looked at it, hand raising to touch the glass lightly. "I can't believe we're going to have to reinforce this again."

Viktor chuckled happily as he continued to watch the substance squirm. "He most definitely is a lively one now, isn't he, Kaine?"

The scientist turned to look at him, seeing the look in Vicktor's eyes as he watched the dark swirl inside the capsule. Green eyes slowly turned back to look at the capsule once more, feeling goosebumps building on his skin. He broke out into another nervous sweat, as he always did when he came into this room. "Why do you want to do this so badly?" he quietly asked.

Viktor only smiled. "Because we have the power to do it, so why not?. And we will do this, no matter what the cost." 

The oily substance swirled even faster inside the tube and smashed into the glass once more. Viktor raised an eyebrow but only smirked once more. "Kaine, go get maintenance. Get them to reinforce the glass once more." The substance smashed into the glass once more, a distinct sound of crackling glass coming from it. "Better hurry," he added with a chuckle.

The scientist quickly left the room and got on the phone, screaming at them to get their asses into the basement as soon as possible to repair the capsule once more.

Viktor only laughed at the young man's fear of the creature. He would have to learn to suppress that fear as they continued with the experiments. "Be silent. old one," he spoke to the thing in the capsule as he set his hand on it, "one of these days we will find you a suitable host." He smiled as the substance smashed into the glass where the man's hand was. He chuckled and turned to leave the room, pressing the button to shut the doors behind him.

All that echoed in the sealed room was that of a enraged roar of the creature, shaking the room to it's very core.


	2. Chapter 2

Present Day....

 

"SON OF A MOTHER HUMPIN' BITCH, THAT HURT!!" screeched Cid painfully. He flung the wrench in his hand at the wall of the shop, the tool colliding with loud smash, while Cid cursed even more as he shook his hand. After a moment he grasped at his injured hand and applied pressure to where he had gotten it slammed in the hood of the engine when it fell from it's prop.

"Well that was most certainly the oddest curse I have heard from you yet," a deep voice echoed through the building.

Blue eyes quickly scanned their way to the voice and he saw Vincent standing in the doorway of the shop, arms crossed and leaning against the door frame. "Yeah, well you would'a barked too if ya got yer hand smashed in that," he answered curtly as he nodded to the engine of the small ship.

Vincent snorted softly. "Well hopefully it was your middle finger. By listening to comments from your other assistants, and many others for that matter, I am sure they would be happy to not be seeing that specific one being waved at them anymore," he replied, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his thin lips.

Cid snorted as well, though smirked at the attempt at humour. "Bite me, Valentine," he barked in a playful tone. He leaned back against the front of the ship and looked at his hand, there was a gash across his knuckle and some bruising starting to appear.

Vincent continued to look up at him from the ground for a few moments. Deciding he had better see how badly the pilot was injured, he made his way up to the ladder to the scaffold and to the captain. "How bad is it?" he asked him. He took Cid's hand and looked it over, also spotting the bruising that was developing.

"Ah, it's alright," the pilot said as he took his hand back. He flexed his hand, clenching his fist a couple times and grumbled at some pain that shot through his wrist and arm. "Don't think it's broken."

"Do you think you may need to bandage it? Or perhaps use a materia?"

"Nah. I'll just take advantage of this and have a smoke break," he said, smirking at the man. He pat Vincent on the shoulder and started his way down the ladder. "I'm done with this beast fer now anyway. Do ya want ta come have some tea?" he offered to him. He jumped off the ladder once he reached the fourth bottom step. He had just been turning around to proceed out the building when he jumped back with surprise as he almost collided with the dark-haired gunman. He cocked an eyebrow at him and looked up to where he had last been and then back to Vincent. "How the fuck do ya...ah, never mind...keep fergettin' just how silent you can be at times."

Vincent only chuckled quietly and turned on his heel to walk out of the building. "Tea sounds fine, Cid."

Cid just smirked and shook his head as he followed the man out of the shop and closed the door. They made their way to the house on the hill. Cid was surprised to see that the the sun was already quite low in the sky. He didn't realize he had been in the shop that long.

"Any specific tea that you would prefer?" Vincent asked as he climbed the first few steps onto the deck.

"Whatever yer heart desires, Vince," he answered, smirking at the look he received from Vincent. 

Vincent just shook his head, though the slight twitch of a smirk was on his face as he walked into the house. Cid had meanwhile taken a seat on the deck of the house and lit up a smoke and stared out into the distance. The red sun was setting in the distance, lighting the clouds in an array of colours that ranged from a bright red to a dark purple. Trees seemed to glow a bright green colour as the last rays of sunlight bounced off them. There was only a gentle breeze tonight, carrying with it the scent of the river nearby. It was an evening much like this that Vincent had first arrived at his house.

It had been just over a month since Vincent had reappeared once more. It had been nearly two weeks after the incident with Deep Ground happened and no one had heard from the gunslinger. It sickened Cid with worry when he had seen that explosion in the sky as Chaos had collided with Omega, seemingly destroying them both. Cid had watched the sky for an unknown amount of time, waiting to see the winged creature once more that he had seen in battle. When he hadn't, it had left him to wonder if Vincent had truly perished in the battle. But late one night, on one such as this, he had been sitting out on the deck having a cigarette when he caught the small flicker of red walking out of the forest. There were no words to describe just how relieved and happy he was to see the man once more. Vincent had arrived worn out, disheveled and looked somewhat starved and Cid immediately took him in, irregardless of the man's objections. There was no way he was letting the man get out of his sight after all that had happened.

Now it was just him and Vincent. Shera had moved out not long after the Deep Ground incident, as she had been dating a man for a while and was now living with him. She still worked with Cid on the odd project here and there, though it was not as much as before. The silence of the house had bothered Cid to a degree, but with Vincent around, it didn't seem to bother him as much. Cid was always a people person and liked having someone around to chat with; even if said person of whom he was talking to was not someone who talked much themselves. It seemed to work though; Cid talked and Vincent listened. So, they made a good team.

"Here you are," spoke the familiar voice once more.

Cid smiled as a cup of tea was set down on the table beside him, "Ah thanks Vince," he said happily as he picked it up with his good hand.

"You're welcome," Vincent answered as he took his seat on the other side of the table. "How much more do you have to go on the ship before you're done?"

"Not too much really. Just gotta replace the alternators and some wiring. Some fuses can probably be changed as well. Other than that, that's it," he said as he sipped his tea.

"You should let your hand rest then."

Cid chuckled then answered, "Yes sir."

Vincent snorted quietly at his answer. "Are you hungry yet? You haven't had anything since this morning."

As if on cue, the pilot's stomach growled, bringing forth an embarrassed chuckle from the blonde man. "I'm thinkin' yes. Come on, I'll go fix us somethin'."

He butted out the spent cigarette on the bottom of his boot and tossed it to the ground then picked up his cup of tea and proceeded in the house. Vincent stood up from his seat and stepped over to the door. He paused for a moment, eyes shifting to look back to the thick forest. His eyes squinted as he tried to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, but he saw nothing. Deciding it was his own paranoia getting to him, he ignored the feeling of being watched and followed the man inside, shutting the door quietly behind him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

A man chuckled in a dark tone as the images were transmitted to his hard drive and being displayed on the large screen in front of him, each showing the two men sitting on the deck of a small house. The man smirked as he looked at the photos, eyes specifically trained on the one. "Ah yes, this should do quite nicely..."


	3. Chapter 3

One Week Later....

 

It was in the evening and the cool breeze blew through the trees, making the leaves dance as they fell to the ground. It was much cooler than it had been in the past few days. Though that was not the cause of the hair standing up on the back of Vincent's neck.

The dark-haired gunslinger was standing on the deck of the house, arms crossed and leaning against the railing of the deck. Observant red eyes scanned the over the forest, same as he had been doing for the past week. He didn't know what it was, but there was something out there that just didn't sit well with him. Something was not...right. He had even went as far to spend hours wandering through the forest to see if he could find traces of something or someone out there, but whatever it was it was good at hiding it's trail. That is if there was a trail to hide, he didn't know. And that is what bothered him most of all

"Vince, why have ya been mopin' around here lately? Somethin' botherin' ya?"

Vincent looked over from where he was standing to see the grufff pilot step out of the house, cigarette dangling from his lips. "No Cid, I'm fine. Nothing is wrong, thank you," he answered before returning his eyes to the tree line.

"What'd'ya mean nothin's wrong? You've been staring at that forest every night fer the past week," he reminded him. He walked up to the railing and leaned against it as he looked at the man, trying to get a read off him.

"It's nothing that I want to bother you with Cid," he said with a faint smile, momentarily taking his attention away from the forest.

Cid snorted and shook his head and turned to face him, still leaning against the railing. "Ya know Vince, you can tell me whatever's on yer mind. We've been livin' together fer, what, almost two months now? I'd've hoped I'd earned yer trust fer ya ta tell me when somethin's on yer mind. Or am I wrong?"

After a quick pause, Vincent nodded. "Yes Cid, I do trust you and I apologize." He snickered quietly and looked back out at the forest. "Sometimes I wonder how you put up with me."

Cid smirked and kicked him lightly in the leg, "'Cause yer cute and adorable, claws and all."

Vincent laughed and looked back to him. "Very cute Cid."

"Of course yer very cute," he teased him once more as he looked back at him. He and Vincent often did this back and forth, teasing one another with comments, though nothing came of it. Cid didn't realize just how much inner strength it took to keep himself from telling the man what he really thought of him, but he soon found out when he told Vincent to move in with him. Every day seemed to be a battle for him to keep his mouth shut that way. "But all that aside Vince, what's on yer mind?"

Vincent shrugged, a sigh escaping him as well. "In all honesty, I am not sure myself Cid. Something has had me on edge as of late, but I am not certain of the cause."

Cid's brows furrowed together as he listened to this. He shifted a bit where he stood. "What? Was it somethin' I said or did?" he asked, thinking that could be one of the reasons.

Vincent shook his head immediately. "No Cid, that's not it at all," he reassured him as he patted the man's shoulder. "I just feel like," he started as he looked out to the forest again and shook his head, "I have to keep looking over my shoulder. Like something's watching."

"Oh?" Cid asked, a bit taken back. His eyes shifted around to look through the yard and then back to Vincent. "Like...right now?"

Vincent shook his head after a moment. "Somewhat, but it doesn't feel as threatening. I just have this feeling that I have to be on guard about something."

Cid was quiet for a moment before exhaling deeply. "Well, guess it's a good thing I have my number one sniper livin' here then, hu?" he said, smirking as he slapped him lightly on the back. He took another drag from the cigarette and flicked the ashes off the end. "Well, I gotta run ta the shop in town and grab a few parts. Fergot 'em there when I left today."

"Would it not be easier to have just one shop Cid? That way you wouldn't be doing all this running back and forth?"

"Yeah, but that'd be too easy then, wouldn't it?" he replied, smirking once more at him.

Vincent chuckled and added, "And smart."

"Fight nice Vince," he said and gave him a quick wink. He patted the man once more on the shoulder and stepped past him and proceeded down the steps of the house. "I should be back in a hour." He walked to the truck that was parked out front and hopped inside the cab. He fired up the vehicle and leaned out the window and called to him, "Anythin' ya want from town?" Vincent shook his head and that was answer enough for Cid. Cid waved to him and began his way back to town.

Vincent took one last look at the forest beyond the yard site, trying to spot any movement or anything out of the ordinary. When nothing caught his eye, he turned and walked back into the house.

The vigilant eyes of the soldier, that sat deep in the forest, zoomed in with the binoculars he had in his hand. He observed the two quietly until the blonde man left. He waited until the truck started through the cut line in the trees and the dark haired man returned into the house before he grabbed the radio that was hooked on his belt. He held it in front of his mouth before speaking "Coast is clear. Begin operation."


	4. Chapter 4

"Where the fuck did I put that damned thing?" Cid grumbled to himself as he searched through the fifth tool box. He huffed then slammed it shut when he realized it was not there either. "Maybe I should listen ta Vince and just have one shop." He set his hands on his hips and scanned around the place as he tried to retrace his steps. Just how the hell were S-hook straps that hard to find in a shop?

Finally he tossed his hands into the air in defeat and declared, "Fuck it! I'll buy some more. Not like I won't use 'em." He went and grabbed the other tool box he needed and hauled it out to the truck and set them in the back. He got inside the vehicle and flipped open his phone and dialing Vincent's number.

Vincent had been cleaning up a few things in the house that needed to be done, knowing that the pilot would most likely not get around to doing. Vincent wondered how the hell the pilot had managed to keep the house clean before he got there, though he remembered that Shera spent the greater amount of time doing that while Cid was working in the shop. And seeing as how Cid had been kind enough to let him share his home, the least that he could do was clean up what clutter he could. As long as he didn't accidentally put something in a place that it should apparently not be, which would inevitably trigger a rage fit from the pilot when Cid couldn't find something that had been 'right there!' before Vincent decided to clean. H

Vincent's phone, that was sitting on the end of the counter in the kitchen that he had been cleaning, started to ring. Stopping the duties he had been doing at the moment, he went to pick up the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Vince, mind doin' me a favor?" Cid asked as he started up the truck.

"What would that be?"

"Mind lookin' in the shop and seein' if I've got enough transmission fluid? I gotta pick up some more straps, so I figured I'd pick that up too if I was runnin' low."

Vincent nodded, "Alright, just a moment." He held the phone against his ear as he made his way out of the house and down the steps. "Anything else I should look for while I'm in there?" he inquired.

Cid was pulling a cigarette out of his pack when he answered, "Nah, just see if I have enough o' that," he continued as he leaned back against the seat, "and-"

Cid's sentence was cut off when a loud crack echoed through the air and startled Cid as the windshield of his truck shattered, leaving a nice small hole through the glass.

Vincent froze in mid-step as he heard the familiar sound of a gunshot on the other end of the line. "Cid?" he asked, eyes wide with a mix of confusion and worry.

Cid was pressed against the seat of the truck, arms up to shield his face from the glass that had sprayed through the interior. He finally opened his eyes to look at the damage done. "What the fuck," he muttered quietly with an underlying tone of terror. He leaned forward and looked around outside, trying to see if it was what he really thought it had been. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw three people walk out of the woods, dressed in what he thought were soldier uniforms, not fifty feet from the shop. "Son of a bitch," he cursed before ducking once more when he saw the guns being raised. 

A rain of machine gun fire pelted the truck, piercing holes in the metal and shattering out the rest of the windshield.

"Cid!" Vincent screamed into the phone as he heard the commotion. "Answer me!"

Doing the only thing he could, Cid reached up and put the truck into reverse and smashed his foot down on the gas. The tires roared as they spun out in the dirt parking lot and jolted the truck backwards, creating a whirlwind of dust and stones. He quickly threw it into first gear and turned the steering wheel and drove blindly out onto the road before he sat up when he felt it was safe. His heart thundered in his chest as he hastily switched gears and sped down the highway, the angry screams of grinding gears echoing through the air.

Vincent stood in shock as he listened to the tumultuous noises on the other end. "Cid, what's happening? Who's shooting at you?" he spoke urgently as he started trekking down the driveway.

Cid heard the sound of Vincent's voice and looked down to see the phone sitting on the seat. He quickly picked it up as he flew down the highway at dangerous speeds. "I don't have a fuckin' clue!!" he yelled back to him over the screaming of the engine and the pulsing in his ears. "These...people, soldiers er somethin', just walked out of the woods and started firin'!!" Blue eyes flickered to the rear view mirrors to see if he could spot anything coming after him. 

Though within that quick diversion of his attention from the road, he did not notice the large camouflage army vehicle darting out onto the highway, intent on smashing into the truck and forcing Cid off the road.

The pilot was thrown wildly around the cab of the truck as it flew through the air and into the ditch. Windows crackled and splintered and metal bowed and caved as the vehicle tumbled and rolled through the ditch, pieces flying through the air and littering the ground behind it before the vehicle came to an abrupt stop on it's rooftop as the machine collided with a large pine tree.

The loud noises echoed through the earpiece of Vincent's phone, each crunch and screech making Vincent's gut clench even more. He dropped the phone to the ground as panic flooded heavily through his veins. A flurry or red and black vapour surrounded the gunman and smoldered for a few seconds before the large wings of Chaos flared and he lifted into the air, going in search of his friend.

The army vehicle quickly cruised over the highway and into the ditch on the other side. Back doors of the vehicle flew open and four soldiers poured out and rushed to the vehicle. 

"Break the door off," spoke a gruff voice of one of the soldiers as he looked inside the ruined cab at the target inside. Cid was stretched on his stomach on the roof of the truck, blood seeping from the wounds on his face and into the upholstery and shards of glass that lay around him.

A middle-aged man, dressing in a dark suit, sat silently in the van. He smiled wickedly to himself as bright brown eyes watched his henchmen retrieve the man from the truck. Once the door was ripped off, two of the soldiers loaded the unconscious blonde into the back of the van, strapping him down to the gurney while another went about injecting him with a serum to keep him asleep. The man continued to smile as he looked the sedated man. He reached out with his hand to turn the sleeping man's face towards him. "Yes, you will do perfectly."

The remaining soldiers were meanwhile splashing the wrecked truck with gasoline, coating it heavily and dropping the empty cans in the cab. Once that was done they scrambled into the back of the van and quickly started off down the road. The soldier standing at the back of the van held the door open as he aimed the grenade launcher and pulled the trigger. The truck exploded violently in a large flurry of flames and smoke, the raging flames sounding like that of a ravenous tiger. The door quickly shut to the van and it flew down the highway and started down one of the back roads.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chaos flew quickly through the area that Cid usually traveled in order to get to the shop, but saw nothing. That was until he saw, and heard, the loud explosion far out in the distance. With a loud growl and a heavy snap of the leathery wings, he darted towards the commotion. 

He swooped down at the sight of the crash, amber eyes wide with fury and worry. He flapped his wings at the vehicle, the heavy down-draft forcing down the flames a bit. His eyes scanned through the vehicle but found no body. He quickly searched around the area in the event that Cid had been launched from the truck, but once again came up with nothing. All he could see was smoke, flames, and the marks of tires on the highway. He rose up into the air, frantically looking around to see what else he could find, but once again nothing stood out.

"Cid..."


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks later...

 

Vincent was furious. More so at himself than anything else. He sat on the deck of Cid's house, brows furrowed in concentration, as he watched the horizon with fiery eyes. He cursed himself, hated himself for the mistake he had made that day. He knew something had not been right in the week before Cid's disappearance. He should have listened to his instincts.

He should have done more...

He had just got back from another search for the missing pilot. Everyone from the AVALANCHE team as well as Reeve and the entirety of the W.R.O. were searching, looking up leads and traces to see if they could find anything but they came up with nothing. Other than the site where Cid's truck had been turned into a pile of burning rubble, there was no evidence of someone having been at Cid's shop, no extra tracks from vehicles, no eye witnesses, nothing. Whoever it was that had taken Cid had gone to great lengths to cover their tracks, and this troubled Vincent even more.

Vincent had gouged a large piece out of the table he was sitting beside, absentmindedly digging at it with the claw of his gauntlet as he thought things over. This didn't make sense. Who would want to kidnap Cid? What had the pilot done that would make someone want be hunted down and be taken like that? Why did they go to the extreme of covering their tracks so carefully that not a trace was to be found of the people who took him? Vincent knew that Cid often had a colourful way of words and would often piss off people due to his lack of courtesy, however Vincent never thought that it was something that would trigger an event like this.

All these questions were eating Vincent alive and each day that passed it became worse. Just as the wall he had built around himself so long ago had started to slowly crumble over time, just as he started to learn how to trust people again, it was now slowly starting to rebuild itself. He had failed Cid, just like he had failed Lucrecia all those years ago. Could he not save anyone?

The gunman was jerked from his thoughts at the sound of his phone ringing as it rest on the table top. Vincent picked it up and flipped the phone open, not even bothering to look at the caller ID as he did so. "Hello?"

"Hello, Vincent, this is Reeve. How are you holding up?"

Vincent sighed and gave a short nod. "I'm fine. Have you found anything?"

"Yes, I believe that we have."

Vincent's heart jumped a bit in his chest, feeling a glimmer of hope inside of him. "What did you find?"

"Well, one of the search crews returned. They were doing an aerial search outside of Nibelhiem. And they found some...activity in one area," he said, voice lowering a bit.

Vincent raised an eyebrow as he listened to him. "Where?"

There was a slight pause before he said, "The old Shinra Manor."

Vincent would have dropped the phone if it wasn't for his muscles seizing the way they had. Shinra Manor. Nothing good ever came from that place. "What did you find?" he finally asked after his mind slowed down.

"They passed over and thought they spotted movement below. They traveled out a bit before letting the ground crew get out so they could scout out the area. There must be something happening there because they said they spotted several soldiers guarding the building."

Vincent stood up from his seat. "He's probably there. It's worth checking out." He walked into the house and over to his room where he kept his ammunition. "When will you be ready to move?"

"I can have the fleet ready in two hours to move. I'll get every available hand I can, just in case. Who knows, after what happened, it wouldn't surprise me if there was something more dangerous inside."

"Good idea," he said as he loaded his gun and grabbed some other boxes of bullets. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

~~~~~~~~

Within two hours as Reeve had said, Vincent, the AVALANCHE members, and the W.R.O. teams were ready to move. They had their airships ready to go as well as other vehicles and weaponry in the case that there was a fight to be had. After all, if the group that kidnapped Cid went to the extremes of capturing and hiding their tracks as they did, something big was happening and it was best to be prepared for the worst. Though everyone was still confused as to why.

Once the final preparations were made and the ships were fueled and everyone had their weapons prepared they started to get into the ships.

"Are you ready?" spoke the voice of Reeve as he approached the gunman.

Vincent had been standing beside one of the airships, arms crossed and eyes focused on the ground, mind still going through all scenarios that could happen. He looked up at him and nodded before straightening up. "Yes. Let's get going."

Reeve nodded as well and turned to walk along side with Vincent to the entrance of the ship. The commissioner sighed and raised a hand to gently rest upon Vincent's very tensed shoulder. "Don't worry,Vincent. We will find him," he spoke reassuringly.

Vincent's features did not change much, minus the furrowing of his brows as he walked. "I know, Reeve. I just hope we get there before it's too late."

~~~~~~~

Time passed agonizingly slow as the ships made their way to the Shinra Manor. Vincent looked out the window he was by, red eyes scanning the landscape below as he prepared himself for what he might find. All sorts of twisted images and horrors played out in his mind as he thought of Cid being held captive in the manor where he had been for thirty years.

After a while the ships started to lower to the ground and landed in a clearing not too far from the place. Quickly everyone poured out of the airships, weapons in hand. Reeve instructed the troops to go and surround the area of the manor, some of the AVALANCHE members going with them. Vincent was to enter the front along with some of the troops and they would begin the mission.

They departed, moving to take their positions before they launched the attack. It struck Vincent that it was strange that there were no soldiers guarding the place, at least they had not seen anyone as of yet. Had they moved already? Did they catch wind of them when the search teams went by? Vincent could only hope that they didn't.

Soon they were at the front gates of the manor and he scanned over the area, gun aimed out in front of him. Still no sign of anyone.

He reached out and opened the gate, a loud and eerie creek coming from it as the rusty hinges shifted at the movement. Vincent and the troops stepped through the gates and started their way to the front doors, eyes looking everywhere.

They were nearly half way through the courtyard when the front doors burst open, soldiers pouring out, guns aimed.

The gunfire screamed through the air, and the battle began.


	6. Chapter 6

Weapons were drawn. Grenades were thrown. Triggers were pulled. Commands were shouted. Bullets screamed through the air and flashes of flame danced through the interior as Vincent and the teams entered and began combat with the large large group of soldiers that had been waiting inside.

The W.R.O. members quickly took their stance beside Vincent as they opened fire on the soldiers. The other AVALANCHE members and W.R.O. troops were quick to make their entrance into the building when they heard that the battle had begun. Everyone scattered, taking on each soldier one by one.

Vincent, with his usual deadly accuracy, took down every soldier that crossed his path as he started the search for Cid. He had to be in the building somewhere with the amount of the soldiers there were guarding the supposedly-abandoned place. But something did not seem right. These soldiers, the ones that had captured Cid, that had covered their tracks well, that went to every extent to keep hidden away, were now trying to retreat. Vincent watched as the soldiers started to scatter in an attempt to leave, though they were quickly struck down by Reeve's staff and his friends.

Why were they trying to retreat now? Was it possible that this was just a trick? Something to draw Vincent towards them, only to have Cid somewhere else and move him farther away? He only hoped that was not the case.

It was not long after they infiltrated the building that all went silent. The soldiers were now dispatched off, all that was to be done now was to look for Cid. Now it was time for the search. Cloud and the rest searched the lower level of the building as Vincent took the upstairs.

He searched every room, in every place that he remembered entrances too, but came up with nothing. With a feel of unease, he entered the final room, knowing it was the only place left to look. The basement. He made his way to the large stone entrance and stopped for a moment in front of it. His stomach churned and he could feel Chaos and the other demons growling and writhing discontentedly, remembering the place themselves where they had been held captive for so long.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the tunnel and dropped down to the basement, the troops covering him as he made his way to the entrance. He felt a chill go down his spine as his feet touched the basement floor, that from a mix of fear and unease, as he looked at the too-memorable surroundings of the underground rooms. Red eyes scanned the area, glancing down at the floor. Tracks were all over the floor, proving that there was a lot of activity here. Raising his gun, he stepped forward. The other troops dropped down quickly and spread out to search the area.

Vincent approached a door and opened it up only to find a room filled with cots and cabinets. He continued through to the rooms until he came across an examination room. New equipment lay about, the putrid smell of the instruments and medicines greeting Vincent almost made him sick. He looked around the room, finding papers laying about, various trays of surgical instruments and medicinal solutions in viles and jars contained with strange looking liquids.

He had been in this room before, the memories coming back to him all too vividly. But there was something different about this room now. Walking to the other end of the room he leaned against a cabinet and pushed it aside to reveal a small door. This was never here before. 

He reached down and turned the knob slowly then kicked it open, gun aimed as he stepped into the room and looked around. To the left was a large room sectioned off from the one he was in, a large window looking into what he believed as an observation room. Dried remnants of blood and flesh painted the walls clumped and congealed on the walls.

He looked away from the room, swallowing the lump that was in his throat. Just what had they done down here? Worry settled into him more as he thought of what the people might have done to his friend. A quiet beeping echoed through the room and he went in search of the sound. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye; a flashing light.

Stepping over to the source he saw a small panel on the wall beside a large steel door, both the panel and door painted with bloody hand prints. He went to work on the panel, punching in random numbers to see if he could figure out the code. After several attempts there was a beep and a rumbling and grinding of metallic gears shifting in the walls.

Vincent felt a chill come over him as the doors opened and released a rush of cool air, a fine mist filling the air around him. He stepped into the room, his breath creating clouds of steam. A large glass containment cell stood in the middle of the room, pipes attached to it and hooked to several other machines. The crunching and grinding of glass came from beneath Vincent's feet as he approached the cell, looking it over, eyes scanning over the large hole that had been blown through the middle of it. A thick green substance dripped down the sides of the glass and pooled at the bottom of it. The smell that came from it was horrid, a strong sulfur-like smell to it.

Just what had they held inside this thing?

There was a sudden noise of a machine starting up and Vincent spun around in his spot, gun aimed at the noise. It was another containment chamber, a large steel coffin-like container that held a small window at the top, pipes attached to this as well in many places. Vincent approached it cautiously and looked in through the small window but could not make anything out clearly. He looked at the panels at the side of it and pressed 'open.' There was a loud rush of air, followed by a series of 'clicking' noises. He backed up as the hydraulics opened up the lid, more mist meeting the air within the room as the cold air from the containment capsule seeped out. Vincent waved his hand at the steam to try and look at what was inside.

He couldn't seem anything clearly, but he knew something was in there. Stepping up to it once again he looked at the figure inside. It was covered in blanket, a helmet-like device over it's head and tubes coming out of it's mouth, most likely for oxygen. His left hand shook as he raised it to pull back the helmet and off the figure. 

His eyes widened with horror and the helmet fell to the floor with a loud 'crack' as he saw the familiar, pale face of the blonde pilot sleeping inside.

"Cid!"


	7. Chapter 7

Vincent quickly put the Cerberus back into the holster before reaching into the cold coffin-like containment capsule and shook the pilot gently to see if he would wake. "Cid?" 

Still no movement. 

He quickly pulled off his glove quickly and placed his fingers against Cid's neck. He was relived to find a pulse but was disturbed by how cold the man was. He carefully pulled the oxygen apparatus from Cid's mouth and out of his throat, stomach churning at the sounds it made as he pulled it out. He tossed it aside and shook Cid once more.

"Cid? Wake up Cid." His eyes scanned over the man's face but saw no movement or twitching that signaled he would wake up. "Damn it," he hissed. He pulled the blanket off the man, spotting something that made him quiver. He had no clothing on, so it was easy to see the new long scars and lines drawn on Cid's skin where incisions were made.

His mind raced as he wondered what was done to his friend and who would have done this. After a few moments of his mind racing, thinking of all kinds of scenarios and reasons, he snapped out of his funk. He quickly tore off his cloak and used that to wrap around Cid, knowing that the heat from it would warm the man quickly. He carefully picked up Cid and started to carry him out of the room. 

He called to the other troops that were still looking around and they quickly came to Vincent's aid. After a while, with a bit of slow maneuvering, they got Cid safely out of the basement. The troops yelled to the others that they had found Cid while Vincent quickly made his way outside and to one of the vans parked out front that Reeve had brought up while they were searching.

Reeve saw Vincent walk out of the building with the man wrapped up in his cloak and he darted over. "What happened?" he asked urgently as he approached him and looked at Cid. "Where did you find him?"

"Basement. In the Laboratory," he spoke quietly as he fought off the mental images of what they had done to Cid.

Reeve's face paled. "The Laboratory?"

"Yes. We'll talk about this later. Let's just get him back home where it's safe."

They promptly got inside the van and made their way to one of the airships. Once on board, they made their way back to Cid's house. Reeve had insisted that they take Cid to one of the hospitals but Vincent would not have it. Though it would have been a good idea to make sure that Cid was alright, e would not risk the chance of more of the soldiers coming to retrieve the pilot. That and no one knew what it was they had done to the man while in captivity, so he thought it best to take him home and keep an eye on him there.

They arrived at the house a while later. Vincent had held onto Cid the entire time, as if afraid that he would be taken away once more if he let him go. He carried him into the house and down to his bedroom. He gently placed him on the mattress and covered him with the blankets.

"Will you be needing any other help?" Reeve asked once they had Cid settled.

Vincent nodded, eyes still locked on Cid. "I think that will do. I will stay with him and make sure he is alright."

"Alright. I'll have my team search over the building and the laboratory at the manor, see if we can find any leads on who did this and why."

Reeve was just about to the door when Vincent turned to look at him and spoke, "Reeve."

Reeve stopped and turned to look at the gunman. "Yes Vincent?"

"Thank you very much for your help."

Reeve smiled and shook his head. "No need to thank me, I would have done it for any one of my friends." He looked to Cid then back to Vincent. "You take care of him. Call me if you need anything."

"I will."

Reeve left and departed with the rest of his team to return to the manor and search the building. Meanwhile Vincent was sitting on the edge of the bed beside Cid. He reached up with his right hand and brushed some of the blonde strands of hair out of his face. His heart sank as he looked at him, feeling even more guilt settle into his gut. "What did they do to you Cid?" he spoke, barely above a whisper.


	8. Chapter 8

Nearly fifteen hours had passed since Cid had been found. Vincent eyes flickered to the clock every now and then, seeing what the time was and counting how many hours Cid had been sleeping (that he knew of), but for the most part his attention was completely on Cid. Vincent stayed at Cid's side throughout the night, not moving an inch away from the man. He sat in the chair beside the bed, eyes locked on the pilot as he slept. A bit more colour was coming to Cid's face, which was good, but the man had not moved at all since he was set in the bed. No rolling over, no kicking of the feet or twitching of his mouth. If it wasn't for the steady rhythm of breathing Vincent heard, it would have seemed as though Cid was dead.

The gunman sighed and hung his head a bit, eyes lowering to the floor as he retreated into the deep recesses of his mind. Guilt ripped and clawed at his mind with shame and anger tailing along quickly behind him, thinking of what he could have done better or differently. He knew there was no changing the past, but that was his problem. He always focused on what he had done wrong and what he could change to do better the next time if such an issue arose once again. Unawareness lead to miscalculations, and miscalculations lead to death and despair. So he could never let go of the past, in fear that he would forget what he did wrong the first time and repeat the same actions.

A quiet, muffled groan reached Vincent's ears and it snapped him back into reality. His red eyes flashed back up to Cid as he shifted in his seat a bit. Had he just been hearing things? He tilted his head a bit as he looked at Cid's face, trying to see if he could spot any sign of him waking.

Another quiet moan escaped the pilot, and his eyebrows twitched a bit. Vincent could see the man's eyes twitching below his eyelids. He was dreaming. Or most likely after recent events, having a nightmare. He got up and shifted to the bed to sit beside the man and he placed his hand on Cid's shoulder. "Cid? Cid wake up," he spoke in a soft tone as he shook him gently.

Cid twitched and his eyes seemed to clam shut even more. His breathing started to increase and he shifted somewhat on the bed. He mumbled something in his slumber, and from what Vincent could make out was he had said 'don't'. 

Vincent shook him once more with the equal amount of strength as before. "Cid, wake up. You're having a nightmare." His heart seemed to sink even more, knowing what the man was going through. There were days even now that he still dealt with the horrid nightmares.

Cid twitched once more, shifting more and tossing his head to the side. He mumbled several more incoherent words before his he gasped for air and shot up in the bed, blue eyes wide open. 

Vincent quickly sat back, almost getting head-butted by the blonde man. 

Cid looked over to see a dark figure sitting beside him and his heart thrashed in his chest. He brought back his right arm and swung his arm to back-hand the figure sitting beside him and then shift to the other side of the bed. "GET AWAY!" he growled as he backed up against the headboard.

Vincent jumped off the bed in time to miss the clenched fist of Cid, though just barely. He held up his hands in front of him and looked at Cid, seeing the panic and fear in his eyes. Though the room was pitch black minus that of the light from the moon shining through the bedroom window, his mako-infused eyes could pick out all these things in the dark. "It's alright Cid. It's me, Vincent. You're back home. You're safe," he explained in a calm voice. He slowly and carefully reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp.

The room filled with a soft light, but it was still enough to make Cid's eyes snap shut and shield them from the light. He had been kept in the dark for so long, literally, that he was not used to it as much anymore. Once he felt safe to open his eyes he looked at Vincent with a sense of disbelief. He looked around the room for a moment before returning them to Vincent's forms. "Are...are ya real? Or is this just another nightmare?" he asked cautiously. Several of the nightmares he had been having had started as such; beginning as something normal where all was going well and then transformed into a new form of hell, then that nightmare would end and another would start. A never ending battle.

Vincent gulped slightly and nodded at him. "Yes Cid, it's me, I assure you." He watched as Cid seemed to be leery of him, still pressing against the headboard of the bed, sea-blue eyes locked on him. He stepped to the bed and extended his right hand out to him, palm up. "I'm real Cid. You're not dreaming," he reassured him as he locked eyes with him.

Cid looked at him suspiciously then to his hand. Deciding to take a chance, he slowly stretched out his own hand and set it on Vincent's gloved hand and his eyes widened a bit. Usually when this happened in a dream, this was when it turned into chaos and hell, yet nothing happened. He tightened his grip on Vincent's hand and looked up at him, and a glimmer of a relived smile started to appear on his face. "Thank Gaia!" he gasped before yanking the gunman onto the bed and wrapped his arms around him and buried his face into the crook of Vincent's neck. "You have no fuckin' idea how damn glad I am to see ya!" he said, voice cracking as he spoke.

Vincent almost yelped as he was jerked onto the bed, but realized what it was that was happening after a second. He too breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around Cid. "Likewise Cid. It's good to have you back," he continued to speak in a soft, quiet voice.

"Ta be honest, didn't think I'd get outta there," he said with what sounded like a chuckle, but it was the honest truth. From all that he could remember, when he was conscious enough to find out what was going on around him, he was basically under lock down. Soldiers watching over him every second, guns trained on him like he was some sort of rabid animal. Always in some sort of restraints so he couldn't move even if he wanted to.

Vincent sighed quietly then shook his head. "I wasn't going to let that happen." He rubbed Cid's back a bit to keep him calm as he felt the man shaking in his grasp. He didn't blame him, after an ordeal as such you would be nothing but a nervous wreck. "I'm glad to have you back."

Cid could feel himself slowly breaking apart as his mind was spinning like a tornado. He tightened his arms around the gunman then spoke, "I'm sorry."

Vincent's brows furrowed as he heard the muffled apology. He pulled back a bit from the man to look him in the eyes, hands resting on Cid's shoulders. "What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked in a serious yet puzzled tone.

Cid looked into the bright red eyes for a moment before lowering his gaze, his hands now on Vincent's sides. "Well...I never really understood why fer the longest time it took ya ta trust me. Why ya were so quiet and all. I didn't realize just how fuckin' horrid it was ta be treated like a caged animal." He gulped down the bit of emotion that was trying to break the surface and he looked back up to Vincent. "You saved me after a matter of days. Yet no one came fer you after thirty years." He shrugged slightly then looked back down at the sheets once more. "I guess I just didn't know ta the full extent why ya were like ya were fer the longest time."

Vincent's chest tightened as he heard this, almost unable to breath as he listened to the man. Yes it was true that he had come through a horrific ordeal, but that isn't what struck him at that moment. Here was Cid, who just came back from two weeks of hell that most could not ever comprehend, who had been treated like a monster and cut open and Gaia knows what else...and yet he was apologizing to Vincent for not understanding him better when they first met. "Cid..." He raised his right hand and brushed the hair out of his face and pulled him against his chest once more and held him, as he closed his eyes to seal the emotions inside. He didn't even know what he could say to him other than the first thing that came to mind. "You know, sometimes I think you think too much about my well-being than your own."

Cid didn't think of it that way, but in his mind it was true. He never understood why Vincent would not like to associate to much with the group and always deviated to his own little place where he could be by himself, rather than socializing with people that showed compassion and care to him; hence why he always made the effort to make Vincent feel at home. But now that he spent a small amount of time in his shoes, he understood. "Well...others would disagree I think."

"Well if they dispute that fact, I will be sure to straighten them out," he said flatly.

This made Cid chuckled quietly as he rest his head on Vincent's shoulder. "Thanks Vince." He pictured Yuffie liping him off once more and Vincent stepping between them and punting her across the room like she was a football. Oh the images... Damn it felt good to laugh again. "I need a smoke," he said after a few moments of enjoying the sound of Vincent's heart beat.


	9. Chapter 9

Vincent smiled a bit, happy to hear that at least the monsters that kidnapped him had not scarred him too much that he didn't want to smoke. Cid was strong in that manner, more than most he had met at least. He pulled back from the hug, somewhat reluctant at first having enjoyed the small bit of contact, and reached behind his cloak and into one of the jacket pockets and pulled out the small pack of cigarettes and handed them to the pilot.

Cid looked perplexed as the pack was handed to him. He took it and looked at the pack in his hand before returning his gaze back to Vincent. "How long ya been holdin' onta these?"

"The day you were taken," he admitted quietly.

Cid's brows furrowed together and he looked down at the pack for a moment. He thought about it for a moment until he looked up at the gunman once more and asked, "Why?"

A slight smiled tugged at the corners of Vincent's lips and he then shrugged, pointing to the pack. "Because somehow I figured after the ordeal that you would want one." He chuckled a bit as Cid smiled then nodded. "That and it gave me a bit of hope, knowing that I would find you."

Cid returned the smile after hearing this then nodded to him. "Thanks Vince. Yer too good ta me ya know?" He pulled out one of the cigarettes and took out the lighter that was stuffed inn the empty side of the pack. He lit the cigarette and took a deep drag off it and began to relax a bit more. He still felt a bit uneasy, feeling like something was not right. Thought that fear was not unfounded by what had happened in the past... He stopped and looked up to Vincent. "Hey Vince...how long was I gone?" he asked, realizing that he had no idea how long he had been gone.

"Just over two weeks."

"Two weeks?" he repeated then looked back down at the cigarette, mindlessly observing the glowing embers on the end. He had thought it was longer...

Vincent observed the man's expression, being able to see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to compute everything. "Cid," he said as he moved to sit a bit closer to him, "I hate to bring this up now but...what do you remember of the two weeks?"

Cid looked up at him then shrugged. He took another drag from the cigarette and replied. "I ain't too sure myself Vince. I don't remember much," he said honestly. "I just remember bein' stuffed this big tank-like thing. A bunch o' fuckin' bright lights. Needles...lots and lots o' fuckin' needles," he emphasized, goosebumps rising on his skin as he thought back to the blurry memories. "Some soldiers I think...I dunno...can't remember," he said as he prodded as his memories for more information. A sharp twinge of pain flickered in his head and his eyes closed instantly. He rubbed his temple with his free hand.

A quick pang of worry flared in Vincent as he saw the pained look on the man's face. "Don't strain yourself Cid," he spoke quietly. He set his hand on Cid's shoulder, hoping that he was alright. He knew that look of pain, he had seen it in the mirror many of times when he tried to think back to his past. "Are you alright?"

After the bit of pain past, he nodded. He rubbed his head a couple more times before nodding. "Yeah, I'm alright," he answered, but actually quite unsure if he was or not. He kept trying to think back to what happened, seeing if he could remember something that he had seen, heard, or anything else that would give him a hint to what happened. He didn't know what it was, but it was digging at him, clawing at him as he struggled to figure it out. Shaking his head from it for the moment, he returned to the real world and took a few more drags off his cigarette when a yawn caught him off guard. 

Vincent snickered quietly as he saw the yawn, knowing full well that the man would be very tired after the ordeal. He was actually surprised that Cid had woken up when he had and was up for this long. "You should try and get more rest Cid."

"Yeah, I suppose," he said quietly. He finished off the smoke and butted it out in the ashtray that was in the same spot beside the bed. He looked around the room a bit and smiled. Still the same mess of clothing in the corner. The almost-full ashtray on the nightstand beside an empty cup that once had tea in it. The cracked and dented alarm clock on the corner from being smacked too many times. The mattress that sagged in the center from going too long without being flipped. The familiar smell of cigarette smoke. Yup, was definitely good to be home. Especially with his best friend in the world with him now. 

He slumped back against the bed and sighed, more waves of fatigue washing over him. "What'r you gonna do?" he asked while rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Well, I thought perhaps I would go find something to drink and let you get some rest."  
Cid's eyes widened a bit and he sat up in the bed, resting on his elbow. "Yer not leavin', are ya?" he asked with a bit of unease. He hoped that he wasn't going to leave.

"Would you like me to stay?" he asked him. He knew that Cid was most likely feeling a bit leery of being by himself, but he didn't want to intrude on his privacy either.  
Cid gulped quietly, blue eyes darting around the room for a moment before replying,

"Well, if ya wouldn't mind?" He felt like an idiot, an absolute weakling, to be asking Vincent to stay at his side, though he couldn't push away the paranoia he had about what had taken place in the past weeks and if it could happen again.

Vincent smiled then nodded to him. He took off his cloak once more and set it on the chair he had been sitting in not long ago, and kicked off his boots and set them aside. He walked to the other side of the bed and laid down beside him, leaning gently against the headboard of the bed. "This alright?"

Cid looked quite content as the man laid down beside him, the bed hardly shifting under the added weight since the gunslinger could move so swiftly and carefully. It always amazed Cid how Vincent could do that. "Yeah. Thanks again Vince." He laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. "Ya have no idea how much ya mean ta me," he said to him in a sleepy voice, not realizing the double meaning it held at the time. But he didn't care. Right now he was safe and content, that's all that mattered.

"No problem Cid." He watched the man lull into a deep sleep once more. "You mean a lot to me too," he whispered quietly as the man started to snore softly. He raised his right hand and brushed away some of the strands of blonde hair from the pilot's face as he watched him sleep and he felt his heart beat a bit faster. 

He didn't know what was going on with him at first. He noticed something was off about himself when Cid went missing. Perhaps it was that he had failed his friend and he had not done his best to make sure it was safe. But it didn't feel like that. He felt this painful, almost hollow feeling in his chest while they searched for Cid. Yet that feeling disappeared when he found him. But just not long ago, when Cid pulled him into that tight hug, that breathing on his neck...it all seemed to trigger a different kind of sensation in his chest. He didn't know how to describe it, but all he did know is that he had never felt that before in his life.


	10. Chapter 10

Vincent was not sure just how long he had been asleep, or when he had shifted on the bed to actually lay down, but he most certainly had at one point. Now he was laying beside Cid with his right arm wrapped around Cid's shoulders, and Cid dozing soundly against his side, one arm over his abdomen, with the quiet sound of snoring coming from him.

He felt his heart pound a bit heavier in his chest now as he watched him, that same sensation from before making a quick return to him. He mentally shook his head, trying not to think too much into it. However it didn't seem to work. This confused the gunman even more. Usually when there was a thought in his head that he wished not to concentrate on, he could quickly brush it aside and tuck it into the deep recesses of his mind. This time it wasn't.

It couldn't be that...no, no it couldn't be that. It couldn't be that...

He kept enforcing this thought, not wanting to think that he could possibly be falling for the pilot. Last thing he wanted to do was ruin the friendship between them with something like that. After all, Cid didn't care for men in that way...did he? He mentally shook his head once more. He attempted to make himself believe that it was simply because Cid was a great friend and had showed him great kindness in the time that he had known him, that he held great worry when Cid was kidnapped and was now very relieved to know that he was ok. Thought the theory did not seem to put the feelings to rest. He only hoped it was his imagination getting away with him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_3 days later..._

 

"Damn I missed her!" Cid said happily as he looked at his baby.

Vincent shook his head, though smiled as they approached the ship. Cid had finally rested up enough that he refused to sleep anymore than he had to. That and he was twitching more than a cocaine addict going into severe withdraw since he had not been out of the house or seen his ship. 

Cid was quickly making his way up the steps and opened the hatch and stepped inside the familiar surroundings. He took in a deep breath, smiling to himself. "Even the smell's the same!" he said happily as he walked around the front deck, patting the stair railing to the flight deck. He looked at his hand then snickered, "Minus the dust, she's still the same."

"Feel better?" Vincent asked as he watched Cid check over his machine.

"Much!" he exclaimed as he looked around. He settled his hands on the steering column of the ship and smiled. "Just need some tea and a few smokes and I'll be back ta my old self."

For the past while, Cid was trying to imagine that the things that had happened were not just figments of the past and nothing more. By talking as if nothing had happened, he did feel a bit better. Though he was not well in the past couple days, suffering severe heat flashes that made him feel like his skin was on fire and skull-crushing headaches, he still thought it was better than being left dead in some abandoned building.

"Would you like me to go make some tea while you look around some more?" Vincent asked, knowing most likely that looking around the ship would get his mind off things for a while.

Cid looked down from where he was standing then nodded. "Sure, if ya don't mind. I'll go check out my room, see if my mess is still where it was before," he said with a slight smirk.

"Cid, with the messes you leave behind, I don't think anyone even dares to try and open the door," he pointed out to him. Gaia knew the man was not the most cleanliness of the group. He had was Cid called 'organized chaos.' However Vincent would not let that philosophy slide for as long as he was there. 

"True enough, see ya back here in a few."

Vincent chuckled and made his way to the kitchen area to start making some tea while Cid wandered off to look at the rest of his baby. He walked over to the cabinets and pulled out the proper items to make the tea when a thought struck him. He wondered if Reeve had found anything yet. He quickly went to putting the water to boil before pulling out his phone. He quickly dialed the number and waited for the man to answer.

After a few rings there was the familiar voice on the other end of the line. "Good day, Reeve Tuesti speaking."

Vincent chuckled quietly. "I never realized until now just how business-like you sound when you answer the phone."

"Vincent?! Vincent, how are you? How is Cid doing, is he alright?" he asked urgently once he realized who it was.

He leaned back against the counter, resting his free hand on the counter top, tapping his fingers lightly against it. "He's doing alright. Holding his own. There have been a few issues regarding health, but overall not as bad as I had feared it could be. I was calling to ask if you had found anything yet?"

There was a quiet sound of a sigh on the other end of the line before Reeve replied, "Well we searched the lab where Cid was recovered and we found several folders of experiments. We're sorting through them now. Some of them though...well, they make me feel uneasy to say the least."

Vincent's brows furrowed together in puzzlement and worry as he heard this. "Reeve, what did you find?"

Meanwhile, Cid was happily making his way through the ship. Quiet thumps echoed through the silent hallway as he walked along, looking over every detail of the ship, popping his head into all the rooms as he passed them, making sure everything was as it had been, smiling to himself every bit of the way. It was nice to have things come back to a sense of normality after the event that took place.

He took one final look out the window of the hallway as he approached the familiar door and turned the knob and stepped inside the room. Yup, everything was still in it's original place. Just as he liked it. He sauntered over to the bed and flopped heavily on it, small dust particles rising up into the air as he hit the mattress. He lay still for a few moments, hands tucked behind his head as he tried to think back to the good times and forget the horrors of the weeks past. He was quiet cozy and relaxed when another flare of pain seemed to shoot through his head. He groaned and rubbed his temples to try and relieve some of the pain, however that did not seem to help.

Sighing, he got up from the bed and stepped to the bathroom. He flicked on the light, squinting as the light felt like it was seemingly burning his eyes. "Dammit." He pulled open the medicine cabinet and grabbed a bottle containing painkillers. He popped two into his mouth then dipped his head down to drink some water from the tap to swallow them down. He ran his hands under the tap and spread some of the cold water on his face. He looked up into the mirror, a clear look of disgust and frustration in his features as he wished for this to stop.

That's when something strange caught his eye. 

Squinting some more to focus, he pulled the collar of his shirt down a couple inches on his left shoulder. Horror and bewilderment took over the features of his face as he saw what appeared to be black coloured spider-web-like designs on his skin. He pulled the collar some more only to find that there was more of it. He quickly tore off his shirt and tossed it aside, wanting to figure out what it was.

"What the fuck?" he spoke under his breath.

He saw the scars that were on his chest and abdomen; no surprise there, he had seen his first glimpse of it a couple days ago. But that wasn't what scared him at this point. He blinked a couple of times, even rubbed his eyes before looking once more. His eyes were not fooling him. For whatever reason, his veins seemed to slowly be turning black under his skin. And it was spreading, slowly but surely.

He brought his hands up to rub the skin, once again thinking this must be some sort of optical illusion he was seeing. Had he fallen asleep on the bed and this was just a nightmare?

He gasped, followed by a disgruntled growl as pain burst inside of him, not only in his head, but now in his chest as well. He collapsed forward onto the counter, hand gripping his head while the other had a death grip on the counter top.

**'What a foolish cretin you are. How dare they lock me inside such a pathetic ignoramus as you...**

Cid's eyes shot open as he heard the dark, ominous voice vibrate in his ears. He looked around the room as best as he could, though his vision was fading it seemed. "Who the fuck's there?!" he growled through the pain burning through him.

The voice seemed to make a disgusted snort then replied, **'So pathetic. You don't even realize what's been done to you...'**

Cid's his head snapped up with eyes wide open as he stared into mirror. What struck Cid with the most fear was that he had not intended to do that. He didn't know how to explain it, other than 'something' made him move so he was looking into the mirror. 'What the hell is going on?!'

**'You still don't get it, do you human?'**

The black veins were quickly spreading over his body, darkening his skin immensely. That and his eyes... Cid stared into the mirror with panic as the white sclera of his eyes started to transform into an oily-black colour, soon over taking over all of his eyes. 

Time seemed to freeze then for Cid as he was absorbed by this unknown darkness. He saw nothing but black, and could hear nothing. The only thing he could hear was that of the voice of the invisible being.

**'Now...let's see what this pathetic form of a meat-suit can withstand...'**


	11. Chapter 11

"Reeve, what did you find?"

Vincent heard the quiet bubbling of the water for the tea start and he turned to set the tea bags into the pot he had set aside.

"Well we looked through the files that were in the room. All of the folders that were found were old experimentation folders from many years ago, long before Sephiroth was even born. At first we thought it was nothing but junk, however upon closer observation, we found that a few of the folders had been updated. Recently updated," he added with a slight tone of unease

Vincent frowned slightly at this. "Update? Since when?"

"Just over two months ago."

"What was the project about?"

The kettle began to scream as the water came to a full boil. He took the pot off the stove and started to pour the steaming liquid into the pot so the tea could steep, all the while paying full attention to what Reeve had to say.

"I have only looked a bit into it. Most of it doesn't make sense to me, but I collected a few details. It was an experiment based on fusion of a human being with an sentient being. The name of the creature was 'Wrath.' At least that's what the scientist labeled it as. Strange part is, this project was originally started nearly seventy years ago."

This struck Vincent as being very peculiar as well. Why would someone dig up files on experiments from that long ago? He had thought those old records were destroyed long ago. Even so, why would they be looking into them now? And for what purpose. "Wrath?" Vincent repeated once more for verification, the wheels in his mind turning as he processed the bit of information. Could it be possible that this creature or whatever it was that Reeve spoke of was similar to that of Jenova, perhaps even Chaos or Omega? "Reeve, what was the name of the-"

Vincent's sentence was cut short when there was a blood-curdling, monstrous roar that shook the ship at it's might. Vincent dropped the phone to the floor as there was a sharp, sudden pain in his chest. 'Chaos? What is it?''

But the demon did not answer, there was only writhing and growls of discontentment and anger from the old creature. Chaos had never done that before, he had always liked to make his opinions known.

'What the hell is going on?' Vincent cursed inwardly as he made a mad dash from the kitchen to see where Cid was.

Cid, at this point, was being cloaked in a thick, black smoke that surrounded his body. It swirled and twisted like a dark tornado. In a flash, the dark mass bolted through the room and into the hallway, smashing through the glass of the ship that lined the hallway and it burst into the open air.

Vincent ran quicker as he heard the loud smash or glass and creaking of metal, fear taking over him completely. "Cid!" He turned the corner just in time to see the large black object tear through the sky and through the trees.

Vincent growled and ran down the hallway, quickly checking the room that Cid should have been in. Cid was gone. He looked back at the large hole in the window, eyes locking onto the thing that burst from the ship. Was it capturing Cid? Or was it...

Red and black smoke erupted around Vincent, engulfing him completely as he let Chaos take over. He took flight to the sky, in immediate pursuit of the dark cloud.

For as large as the mass was, it trekked at a fairly quick speed, charging through the trees, smashing everything in it's path. Dark laughter seemed to vibrate from the mass as it ripped through trees and rock, sending birds and other forest life scattering in it's wake. Then it suddenly swooped up into the air and hovered for a moment.

'Now, let's see if you can withstand this,' the creature grumbled inside Cid's head as he was held captive through the ordeal. The dark clouds swirled in the air before bolting back down to the ground, smashing into the earth floor. The earth quaked, sending shock waves throughout the area. Trees splintered and shattered, rocks cracked and crumbled as the force of the blast blew it away.

Chaos watched from above as the mass continued on through the forest. He scowled at it, watching intently with bright gold eyes as the destroyed area was being cloaked in the black smoke.

After a few moments, the smoke began to dissipate, slowly being sucked back into the center of the destruction. Chaos watched as the area began to clear, leaving nothing but a dirt area the size of a small crater and an unconscious body laying in the center. With a snap of his wings and dashed down in an instant and landed beside Cid. 

"Cid. Cid, wake up," the demon's voice spoke to him as he turned the man over. Cid was out cold, and no sign of him waking up. Chaos carefully looked over the man's features, some black veins till visible. "So, this is what they have done to you..."


	12. Chapter 12

A pounding sensation in his head is what violently awoke the pilot from his slumber, along with twisted images and dark whispers taunting him. He awoke with a loud gasp, blue eyes shooting open and scanning the surroundings.

He was back in his room.

Dirty and worn out pants were draped over the end of the bed along with an array of other articles of clothing scattered amongst the dark blue carpet. The lit lamp on the nightstand highlighted the ashtray filled with spent cigarette butts, his lighter and cigarette pack laying beside it just where he had left it before. His empty tea cup was not far from that, the spoon at the side with dried remnants of the liquid on it. Everything seemed as it was.

He sat up in the bed as he continued to look around the room suspiciously. His heart began to race once more as flashbacks flooded his mind; images of dark smoke and veins black as night cloaking him and sending him into oblivion. He quickly flung away the blankets and looked down at himself to see if he could still see them. He touched and pulled at the skin on his chest and abdomen, trying to see if he could spot any of the black lines upon the skin. He checked his arms and hands next, but there was nothing.

Was all of it just a dream?

"You're awake."

Cid looked up and aw the silent gunman step inside and swiftly walk over to the bed to sit at his side. He could tell by the look upon the man's face that there were remnants of worry behind those bright red eyes. Many people could not read the man well, though he had spent enough time around the gunman that he could not pick out the small signals that gave of emotions. "Yeah...yeah, I just woke up," he said as he looked back down at his hands, half expecting the strange anomaly to appear before him once more.

"How are you feeling?" Vincent asked, tilting his head a bit so he could try and look at the man's face. It pained him to see the look upon the pilot's features; that mix of fear, confusion, worry. He had never seen that mixture of emotions upon his face that were that prominent. It scared him.

Cid was still for a few moments then shook his head. "Honestly, not good." He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose then rubbed his eyes, trying to relieve some of the pain. He looked up at Vincent, hoping he would get some kind of an answer out of him. "Vince...did somethin' happen? Or was I just havin' another hell of a nightmare?"

Vincent sighed quietly and nodded. "Something did happen, though I am not sure what it was." In all honestly it was true. He didn't know what happened to Cid, nor did he know what it was that was going on in the mind of Chaos. He had tried to speak to the demon after the incident occurred, attempted to get some answers out of him however Chaos would not answer. The demon was quiet, seemingly troubled or despondent about something as a result of what happened with Cid. And that only worried the gunman even more. Chaos usually spoke his mind whenever he wished, but for him to be silent was never a good thing.

Cid panicked a bit when he came to the realization that he was not dreaming. He pulled the rest of the blankets off himself and darted to the door of the room and whipped it open. His heart seemed to crack in two when he saw the damage done to his baby. He padded slowly with shock up to the wreckage of the window of the hall. Metal was twisted and warped outwards, the thick plated window were smashed and glittered the hallway and the ground below. Cid almost thought he was going to cry, not just because of what happened to him but also what happened to his ship.

He brought his hand up to touch the shredded metal, almost in an apologetic way. He leaned against the large steel frame, looking down to the ground to see the strips of metal and large chunks of metal. Just what the hell happened that caused that great of a force to smash it? The glass he used in the ship was shatterproof, four-inch thick plate glass. It would take at least sixty tonnes of pressure before it would even start cracking, let along smash it into billions of shards it was in now.

Vincent watched with great sorrow as he looked at the crushed look on the captain's face as he looked at the damage done to his beloved ship. He stepped over to the man and set his left hand on the man's shoulder, hoping that he could provide some comfort. "I'm sorry Cid."

Cid continued to stare at the ground below as his mind reeled, attempting to make sense of what was going on. "What's happenin' ta me Vince?"

Vincent winced at the pain and confusion very clear in his voice as he quietly asked the question. "I'm not sure myself Cid. I wish I had the answers." He paused, mind taking him back to before the chaos started. Reeve; the man was probably shitting bricks right now with worry. "Cid, I have to phone Reeve. I'll see if he has any answers. Please go and rest and I will be back as soon as I can. Alright?"

Cid was silent for a moment before he nodded. He raised a hand to rub his chin then turned to face him. He didn't want to be alone, especially after (whatever the hell it was) that just happened. "Alright. Just...don't be long, ok?" he asked him, turning his gaze up to those bright red eyes.

Vincent nodded and gave his shoulder a reassuring grip. "I promise. I'll be back as soon as I can." He quickly departed from the damaged area to return to the kitchen where he found his phone on the floor. He knelt down and picked it up and turned it on. It was no surprise to him that he had over sixteen messages on his phone, some just phone call alerts and others being voice mail, all from Reeve. As if on cue, the phone started to ring once more and Vincent quickly answered it. "Hello Reeve. Sorry about earlier."

The panicked, yet relieved, voice of Reeve reached his ears. "Vincent! What happened? I was about to send troops over to see if something happened."

Vincent sighed as he leaned against the wall of the kitchen, crossing his arms slightly. "Well something did happen, but it's been taken care of. I will tell you of that later. Reeve, I need to know what you were about to tell me earlier."

Reeve made a sound of protest but it was quickly followed by a sigh of surrender and slipped back into professional mode for a moment. "Well, as I was saying, we were looking into the files that were left behind and found some...worrisome information. The file that we found was that of an old experiment conducted many years ago. It's not just what the experiment was about, it was who was in charge."

Vincent's brows furrowed together at the last sentence, wondering who was behind it. He recounted all the scientists of Shinra, several coming to mind that would be involved in such an experiment. "Who was it?"

There was a slight pause before the man answered. "His name was Viktor. Viktor Hojo, Professor Hojo's father."


	13. Chapter 13

Vincent nearly dropped the phone once more as he heard the name spoken. Viktor Hojo. Hojo's father. Well that was not a comforting bit of information, that was certain. He knew what Hojo had done and the evil that resided in the man's black heart, so he could not even begin to imagine what his father was even like. Hojo had to have learned it well from someone. The mere thought of it sent waves of nausea through his being.

"Vincent? Vincent are you alright? Are you there?" asked the concerned voice of Reeve through the phone.

Vincent returned to reality and shook his head a bit. "Yes Reeve, I'm still here. Tell me Reeve, what was the purpose of this experiment that Viktor had? What was supposed to be the end result?"

The sound of rustling paper was heard through the ear piece of his phone, followed by a quiet sigh. "Well, that is something that we are still unsure about. Like I had said before, it says in the documents that they were trying to fuse a sentient being with a human, but all attempts had failed. Many times...until now."

Vincent silently gulped down the lump in his throat before asking, "How many failures?"

"Twenty three to be exact."

Twenty three failures. That was quite the amount for a scientist. At least for the ones that he knew at Shinra. Vincent combed his clawed hand through his hair to push aside the hair that fell in his face while he was staring at the floor. "What happened to them?" He was unsure that he even wanted to know what happened to the people who got roped into the experiments as guinea pigs, but he needed to know what to look out for, just in case...

"Well, this is what I found as most disturbing. All patients in the experiments died due to what I can only understand as spontaneous human combustion."

Dark brows knitted together with a mix of confusion and fear as he heard this. He quietly walked over to one of the chairs and leaned against it, brass claws digging into the backing. "What do you mean by 'looks like' spontaneous human combustion?"

"Well there are all these notes in the files about body temperatures rising to unhealthy levels, some developed heat rashes and blisters. Then it progressed from that to basically the subject..." he paused for a moment, making a sound that could only be described as disgusted, when he continued to say, "boiled and burned from the inside out. Even some of them actually...exploding..."

Vincent's mouth hung open with disbelief as these details were revealed. "You are joking, right?" he asked, voice wavering slightly.

"...I wish I could say that I was."

Now it made sense to Vincent as to why Cid was found in the chamber that was basically the equivalent to a freezer; it was to keep him from cooking like a roast in an oven...

A shaky breath passed Vincent's lips as he slipped down into the chair, legs seeming to give way as he tried to process this new information. The world seemed too be spinning around him as these details imprinted themselves into his mind. It was sickening, to think that this thing, this creature Wrath, was now inside Cid and...

"Reeve, when did these symptoms start to show?" he asked urgently. He had to know if there was still the danger of these symptoms appearing.

"Umm, one moment, I think I saw something in here..." More rustling of paper was heard. "Yes, there is something mentioned here about an incubation period. Says that their goal date was at least twelve days before they knew that the fusion was complete. However none of the subjects made it to that date. All died within a nine day period."

"Fourteen days," Vincent repeated as he started to mentally count the amount of days that Cid had been missing to the present day. Today was day fifteen.

"Hopefully that means he's in the safety zone. Yet that still doesn't make this situation any better."

Reeve couldn't have been more right. Even though that Cid was alive and he had survived the experiment, that only meant that this creature was surely fused to Cid, just like he was to Chaos and the other demons.

"I agree," he finally said after a moment. He looked around the room as his mind started to think of what his next move should be. "Thank you Reeve for the information. I'm going to let you go. There are some more things I need to look into."

"Wait, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go back to Shinra manor. There are some things I want to look into." 

~~~~~~~

Broken rock and shattered glass crunched quietly beneath Vincent's boots as he walked through the abandoned building that he was in not long ago. Bullet casings lay scattered all across the cold, cement floor, glistening in the small rays of sunlight that crept through the dust-covered windows. Crows cawed and squawked as they fluttered through the building, picking at the rotting remains of the guards that were guarding the building before the attack.

The stench was enough to make him want to vomit.

He quickly started to make his way to the laboratory where he had found Cid, not wanting to take too long in the place. He wanted to get back to Cid as quickly as he could. Last thing he wanted was for another incident to happen while he was away. But a few sleeping pills in the man's tea would keep that problem down away for the time being.

Once downstairs he made his way through the large steel doors and into the room. It still felt cold in there, causing the shivers down his spine to become worse. He began his search through the papers that were spread across the room but found most of them to be charts listing information on procedures, medications, formulas and everything else under the sun, but so far nothing on Cid, or this mysterious creature named Wrath.

He retreated back into the observation room. He looked at some of the shelves and saw some more folders tied together and left in small bundles upon the shelves. He walked over and grabbed a couple of the piles and began his reading . He came some information on subjects that had failed in the experiments, some of the side notes making Vincent cringe. He continued his search through the work, so far not finding anything of new information that Reeve had not informed him of yet.

He sighed and dropped yet another folder onto the desk Everything was basically repeating the same information on all of the people experimented to put this creature named Wrath into them. He stepped around the desk and sat in worn chair. Next he went to inspecting things in the desk, checking for any folders that may have gotten smashed down in the bottom. He opened the top drawer on the right side and saw a large, worn-out looking paper envelope with string tied around it. He plucked the large package out. Resting underneath that was a small handheld recorder.

He carefully pulled it out and blew the dust off it. He wondered if the thing would even still work? He pressed one of the play buttons, but nothing happened. Well he could always hang onto this and listen to what it had on it once he found some batteries for it. He opened up the large package and inside there were more worn out papers, some rolled up and tied, others folded and tucked inside. He pulled out one of the papers and unfolded it. Unfortunately the paper was so old and worn that the ink had smudged and disappeared almost completely. He looked through the rest of the package and found many of the papers to be like this, large segments missing from it as they had been in the desk for far too long. He wondered what was on all of the papers prior.

It would be just his luck that what he needed was on these papers and now he would never know what was on them.

Another sigh escaped the gunman as he thought about how much of a pointless trip this seemed to have been. He paused for a moment then pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had been gone quite some time now, it was best he return before Cid awoke from his sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thankfully Cid was still out like a light when Vincent returned to the ship. Vincent had to smile at the way the man was sleeping. He was spread completely across the bed, arms and legs out in all directions as he rest on his stomach. His mouth hung open and a small spot of dampness could be seen on the pillow where Cid had been drooling. Vincent shook his head and took the blanket that had been pushed to the side and covered Cid up once more. He wouldn't wake him, he had a long enough day as it was.

Vincent exited the room and proceeded towards the kitchen, where he would hopefully find some batteries to put in the recorder, and make himself some tea. Cid had definitely gotten him hooked on the stuff. He normally just drank water, and the odd time he would have tea or coffee, but not nearly as much as he did now. Cid was certainly rubbing off on the gunman. He started up the water for the kettle then went in search through the drawers to try and find some batteries. Finally, once sorting through about five junk drawers, he finally found a couple batteries. 

He crossed his fingers as he hoped that the damned things were not dead. He put the batteries into the back and clipped the piece back on and pressed the rewind button. The small whirling sound was enough to please Vincent. Well at least it was working. He set it on the counter as he waited for it to rewind, meanwhile getting himself a tea cup. 

The tape player 'clicked' as it stopped rewinding.and Vincent quickly reached over and pressed the play button. He continued getting the tea ready while he waited for something to happen on the player. It was quiet for the first little bit but soon a voice came through the small speaker.

"We came across another scripture from the Ancients today, describing to us more about the creature that we are hunting. Though the scriptures we found mainly seem to be focused on the being known as Chaos-"

Vincent's ears perked at this and he turned to look in the direction of the tape player while he was grabbing a couple of tea bags to put in the pot.

-"we came across some that contain information on Wrath as well.' There was the sound of what Vincent could only guess to be papers being shuffled around. "The first part of it reads: 'Caged inside the core of fire, cultivating impurity, the dissentient of Chaos. Omega's chain to the luminous body, the binding claws to the life stream. Beware the menace of Wrath that cloaks himself in shadows as he rises from the cage.' That was the first part we found, whereas the second goes on to say: 'Two omnipotent beings, divided by design, hold the key to Omega. Divided, Wrath and Chaos lie before us, and as the balance breaks, so shall Omega break. Together, the seal shall be set, preserving the luminous body forevermore.' We are still unsure as to what the scriptures mean for certain, but that will not keep me from my goal."

Wrath and Chaos? They were connected? 'Chaos, did you know of this? Is this why you were keeping quiet?' Only a disgruntled gurgling noise reverberated through his mind, and that was enough of an answer for Vincent. Chaos did know something about Wrath after all.

The tape continued, "We were successful in locating and containing the being known as Wrath. Thanks to the help of Grimoire Valentine-' 

Vincent froze as he heard the mention of his father's name. His father? He knew of Wrath? He turned back to the player and pressed rewind once more so he could hear all that he missed while he was in his stunned state. He pressed play and listened to it carefully as he held it in his hand. 

'-to the help of Grimoire Valentine and his research, he was able to confirm our questions about Wrath and where we could possibly find him. After a few weeks of studying landscapes and possible locations, we discovered Wrath while inspecting abandoned mines in the southern region. Wrath has been contained in a highly secured containment cell, though it will need to be maintained on a daily basis to prevent any accidents from occurring. Finalization of the experimentation requests are being put through and we should be able to begin work in the next few days."


	14. Chapter 14

Vincent was sitting at the kitchen table, the small recorder still in his hands. He listened to it over and over again, burning all the words into his mind. The elusive information about Chaos and Wrath, that his father had played some part in all of this, and information about Wrath and the experiments as they started.

After listening to it for the umpteenth time, he turned it off and set it on the table. He leaned against the table, elbows propped on the table top as he rubbed his eyes. He felt tired. All of this was beginning wear on him and he almost had enough of it. When was all of this going to make sense? When was he going to figure out how to help Cid?

He opened his eyes and stared forwards. Cid. He wondered if Cid had awoken yet. Best get the man something to eat and drink. He slowly stood up from the table, pushing the chair back with his legs. He started to get some of the food. He hoped that Cid was feeling better than he had been before.

If only he knew what to do...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Cid wasn't sure what time it was when he awoke. The only thing he knew for certain was the severe pounding in his head had returned along with that sickening feeling of feeling like he was on fire. He weakly kicked the blankets off himself as he lay in the bed, hoping that would help him cool off. 

"Vince? Ya in here?" he asked quietly. When he heard no response he oped his eyes to look around for him. No one there. The only thing that greeted him was the rays of the setting sun from the window in the hallway. "Son of a bitch," he grumbled as he rolled over and clenched his eyes shut.

It was weird...not having Vincent in the room with him at that moment. He had grown quite accustomed to having the other at his side all the time, to be able to talk to him. He smiled a bit as he thought of the night where Vincent was nice enough to stay with him in bed. He didn't think that the man would have done that. It was kind of nice...

Even though this was the week from hell and he couldn't remember a time where he had felt worse or been more afraid, he was able to find some of the rays of sunshine through it all. He couldn't keeping himself from smiling when he saw Vincent come into the room and brought him tea or something to eat, or even just to sit there and chat with him about anything and everything. With every day that went by he could feel himself falling for the man even more... He wasn't sure when it started to happen fully, but he could feel it more and more every day. It felt wrong thinking like that, seeing as how he believed the man to be decidedly straight. And he most certainly didn't want the man to leave because he had done something wrong by saying that he was falling in love with him...

Who knows, maybe it was his temperature making him delusional... 

Thinking of that he realized that he wasn't feeling any cooler, even with the blankets off him. He grumbled as he sat up in the bed and wiped some of the sweat from his forehead. Damn, it felt like it was getting worse. "Fuckin' hell," he grumbled once more before getting up from the bed and took only a couple of steps before he froze, his left hand whipping out to brace himself against the wall. He hissed as it felt like there was someone had just filled his chest with cement.

His legs wobbled slightly as he stood there with the air being locked off from his lungs. The loud pounding in his ears increased tenfold. It was enough to make him sick. The creature Wrath released a deep growl as he too felt the discomfort. Cid collapsed to the floor in a heap as the pain flared through his body with each pulse of his heart.

"What's happening?" he gasped as he braced himself on the floor, fighting off the pain that was attacking him. Cid clutched his chest with his right hand as the other held him up. An unbearably strong pressure began to swell within him, as if someone had reached inside his chest and grabbed his heart and was squeezing the life out of it.

A disgruntled growl echoed through the pilot's mind as the demon within him started to writhe. **'So he does have it,'** echoed the gurgling voice.

"Who? What does-"

His muscles spasmed and Cid fell the rest of the way to the floor,curling up into a tight ball as his other hand wrapped around his abdomen. The veins in his body became more noticeable upon his skin as they fiercely pumped blood through them. The deathly colour of black began seeping through the veins, leaving the dark lines covering his body, though this time it seemed to make his body burn, like the black essence was filled with acid.

A blood-curdling scream ripped hoarsely from Cid's throat, sounding demonic as it broke through.

Vincent had been on his way to Cid's room when he heard the scream echo through the ship. He dropped the tray he had been carrying and started to run towards Cid's room. Damn it all, why did everything have to happen when he left Cid alone? He darted to the room and entered quickly, immediately stepping over to his friend. "Cid? Cid, what's wrong?" he asked urgently as he lifted the man from the floor and to his side where he crouched down. Even with all the layers of clothing on, Vincent could feel the heat radiating off the blonde as he encircled his arms around him.

Cid seemed growled even louder, pain flooding him even more. "Let me go," he growled through clenched teeth. His eyes were slammed shut and his breathing was labored as he tried to work past the pain, but nothing was working. Even Wrath started to scream within him, which of course only seemed to make things worse.

Panic filled Vincent like wildfire as he looked at Cid. He could see the strong muscles clenching and twitching as Cid writhed in his arms. "Cid please, tell me what you're feeling," he demanded, hoping he would know what to do to help him. Gaia he hoped this wasn't what he feared.

 **'Get away from him,'** Chaos instructed, almost in a wary tone.

This frightened Vincent as Chaos had never warned him of anything before. This was not good... "Cid please-"

In a quick movement, Cid shoulder checked Vincent in the chest to get him off him. Vincent fell back against the end of the bed with a 'thunk' resonating through the room as his head connected with the wood. Cid was now crouching on the floor. He was kneeling on one leg while he propped himself up with the other, his knee against his chest. Cid gripped at his head, sounds of growling coming from him.

Vincent sat up slowly and shifted forwards toward him, stretching out a hand cautiously to rest it on the man's broad shoulder. "...Cid?"

Next thing Vincent knew, there was a hand gripping at his throat with brute force, cutting off his air supply. His hands automatically grabbed at the hand of Cid's in an attempt to pull it away. He opened his eyes and looked at his friend. And horror only settled into the gunman even more.

Cid's skin had completely turned a dark grey from the black veins that pulsed beneath the skin. And his eyes... his eyes were as black as midnight, minus the spiky white pupils in the middle. And then he spoke, in a dark and twisted voice that he had never heard come from Cid ever in his life. "Silence boy!"

Cid stood up, lifting Vincent with the hand around his neck, then swung the man and sent him flying against the far wall. 

Vincent smashed into the wall and fell forward onto the edge of the bed. He bounced from the mattress and went sideways, colliding with the nightstand and dresser that were opposite to it. He coughed and gasped as he attempted to get the wind back into his lungs. 'What the hell was that?' he thought as he rolled over onto his stomach, ignoring the small flares of pain from where he landed. He got up as quickly as he could, only to see Cid had bolted from the room and leaped out the broken window in the hallway.

Cid landed against the ground heavily, the earth beneath him caving slightly as he landed. His dark eyes looked before him and he started to run. He took off for the tree line with an almost supernatural speed. It sounded like thunder as the pilot ran like a cheetah through the trees, feet pounding against the dirt floor, smashing off limbs of trees as he dashed past them.

Vincent quickly jumped from the ship and onto the ground and soon took off after the man. He watched with astonishment as Cid smashed through the forest, a clear path of destruction laying behind the man. Vincent used all of his strength and ran after him as fast as he could. Vincent was not a slow runner at all, yet at the speed he was running he was still falling behind by quite a bit.

 _'Chaos, you better start talking now. What the hell is going on?'_ he screamed in his head as he followed the path Cid was making.

Chaos was silent for a moment before speaking, **'The final moment. This is when it will be decided.'**

Vincent's heart raced even more as he heard this. 'What will be decided?'

**'The end...'**

Those words fueled Vincent more and he gained even more momentum as he raced through the dense forest. It was not too long after that he came across a very small clearing. He looked at the trees that were smashed in half that had been laying across Cid's path before the man came to rest in the small clearing. Cid was kneeling on the ground in the middle of the clearing, holding himself up by bracing his hands against the ground, a slow mist rising from the man's body from the intense heat.

"Cid.." he spoke breathlessly as he stopped at the edge of the clearing. He stood still as he attempted to catch his breath before he began to approach his friend. "Cid please, just look at me-"

"I think perhaps you should leave him alone Valentine. You might get hurt," spoke a sly and malicious voice of a man from somewhere within the trees.

Vincent froze as he heard the all-too familiar voice of the man, eyes widening slightly as he heard it. There was a quiet snap of a tree branch to the side of the clearing. His fists clenched and teeth locked together as a mix of rage and horror filled his essence. Slowly he turned his vision to the source of the voice, red eyes glaring at the smug-looking man in a dark suit who stepped out from behind one of the trees. "Hojo..."


	15. Chapter 15

The vocals grated on the gunman's nerves, like that of nails on a new chalkboard. He slowly turned around, teeth grinding together as his eyes settled upon the man. "What are you doing here?" His voice was steady, but the tone that carried through Vincent's words were enough to mirror his rage.

Though the voice was unmistakeably Hojo's, the man looked nothing like the scientist. This man had hort, dark brown hair brushed back smoothly, with dark rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose, and sported a pure white suit. Vincent felt sorry for the man that was taken over by the bastard. He was sure that having his body taken over by a madman was not on his bucketlist

"Oh you know," he spoke as he brushed some invisible dust off his jacket collar, "just taking care of business." He looked back up to Vincent, the same malicious smirk showing. He folded his hands together in front of him as he stood straight and business-like. "After all, I had to check in on my experiment. Took a while to find a suitable host for my taste, but I only had so many subjects that I could choose from through the fragmentation program."

Vincent's fists clenched tighter as he glared holes through the man, sickened by the sweet tone he was talking in. I didn't suit the monster at all. His eyes flickered towards Cid, of whom was still crumpled in a ball on the dirt floor of the forest, cringing in pain and clutching at his chest. Vincent also felt a crushing pain within his own chest as he looked at his beloved friend. "Why? Why him?" He turned his attention back to Hojo while taking a few steps to the side so he could get between him and Cid if needed.

Hojo laughed, head tossing back slightly before he caught his breath once more, as if he heard the most hilarious joke of his life. "Why you ask? Because he was the best candidate for the experiment," he said as he directed his hand in the direction of Cid.

"How so?" he has, voice laced with more malice than before. He gripped at the wooden handle of the Cerberus, leather glove protesting with quiet creaks as the material stretched. 

Once again the man laughed. He brushed a stray hair out of the way before returning his attention to the enraged Vincent. "Oh, but think of it Valentine. Who better than this specimen right here? Yes, there are many reasons that attributed to this decision, but ultimately there was only one that stood out."

Vincent's faltered in his movement towards Cid as he tried to understand the man's reasoning for choosing Cid. How was he the perfect candidate for all of this? "And what might that be?" he continued, eyebrows furrowed together.

Hojo tilted his head, a thin smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Why you of course." He could tell that by the look on Vincent's face that he was not following. He laughed once more and shook his head. "Oh Vincent," he said as he shook a finger at him, "You always were slow when it came to guessing how my genius mind works. Oh come now Valentine, I saw the spark between the two of you, the way he looked at you and so forth. Who better than to choose than him? Can't you see the similarities he has to this wonderful creature?"

The small hairs on the back of the gunman's neck rose as he heard the man's small speech. So he was correct when he had the gut feeling that he was being watched, He should have known to be more careful. What disturbed him the most was that he had been close enough to see how he and Cid had been interacting. "Well I don't know what microscope you've been looking at Cid through, but he's nothing like Wrath."

"Oh, but on the contrary," he said, raising a finger into the air, "he is. Think of it. The harbinger of despair and rage." He looked towards Cid as more growls came from the man as he writhed where he lay. Hojo raised his hands into the air as he looked into the sky, reciting the scriptures from memory. "Caged inside the core of fire, cultivating impurity, the dissentient of Chaos. Omega's chain to the luminous body, the binding claws to the life stream. Beware the menace of Wrath that cloaks himself in shadows as he rises from the cage." 

Hojo lowered his arms and gaze and turned his attention to the pilot. He waved a hand in the blonde's direction. "Born as a sworn enemy to the keeper of Chaos. The spirit bound to the earth, destined to never leave this planet. It's all too perfect! Don't you think he holds some resentment to you?" he asked as he gazed back at Vincent. His voice was smooth as if he was hushing a child to sleep. It was certainly not befitting of the man, Vincent thought. "His greatest wish was to fly, take to the skies and sore through the air. Though he can't without the aid of machines and technology. Yet...there you are. Able to transform and take off as you wish, call the skies your own. What better person to choose to make your life a living hell by turning the one you love against you!"

Vincent's lips and nose twitched as he tried to hold back his rage. "So this was your master plan? Toy with Cid just to mess with me even more than you already have?"

He laughed once more, while kicking a stone at his feet. "Well, what can I say?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glowing orb, one that shimmered with dark red and black wisps, like hellfire... "After all, you are my greatest experiment. Can't let you get rusty now, can I?"

Vincent felt a sharp pain inside of his chest, like a barrage of daggers stabbed into his heart. He groaned as he grasped at his chest, feeling a sudden flare of Chaos' energy within him as the dark orb was held into the air.

Hojo looked to his side to where Cid lay only feet away from him. He threw the orb into the air and caught it in his hand once more before holding it out in the direction of Cid. "Fetch boy!"

Before Vincent had a chance to react, or even have a chance to withdrawal his gun, the chaos began...


	16. Chapter 16

The Rise Of Wrath - Chapter 16

by adarkworldfantasy, Jul 24, 2012, 12:43:23 AM  
Literature / Fan Fiction / Horror

Long tendrils of light burst from the dark orb in Hojo's hand, swimming through the air at lightning speed as they approached it's victim; Cid. The dark grey and black vines wrapped themselves around Cid's body, covering him completely then sinking into his skin. The sound it made was grotesque. It resembled that of raw meat being dropped into a scalding hot frying pan; sizzling and crackling frantically. Though the noise it made was not close enough in volume to cloak the screams that came from the pilot. The man screamed like no one had heard before. It didn't even sound like Cid's voice really.

Cid jolted and shook where he was kneeling on the ground as the vines continued to wrap around him, sinking deeper into his tanned skin. The veins in his neck started to turn black and spread all across his face until his skin was completely dark. Calloused hands rose to his head and gripped his scalp and soon his hands too were being covered by the same black lines. Soon his whole body had turned black, merely looking like a dark mass.

Vincent was making his approach to Cid, eyes squinting as he drew closer; there was an unreal heat that seemed to be coming from Cid, so strong that he could feel his own skin burning through the layers of clothing shielding him. He had another six feet to go before he was able to reach Cid.

That's the true horror began.

Cid's eyes flew open, revealing complete black eyes with jagged, white pupils. They looked wild, full of rage and ferocity. Cid released a roar so loud that one wouldn't think a human could produce without shredding your esophagus completely in the process.

Then came the explosion. Vincent was flung backwards, though stopping suddenly when he smashed violently into a tree. Vincent involuntarily gulped in air after being winded, though he choked and coughed and sputtered when pure heat filled his lungs. He covered part of his face with his cloak to shield the heat washing across him and down his throat and nostrils. When he controlled his breathing once more, opened his eyes enough to see what was happening.

Violent winds plowed from the center of the clearing, where in the middle of it was a large swirling mass of light. Grey and black tendrils of light swirled so fast it sounded like the air itself sounded like it was screaming with pain. Sparks crackled around the mass, jolting and firing in all directions as the whirlwind seemed to move faster. Trees succumbed to the strong winds and came crashing down by the dozens around them. Leaves seemed to disintegrate in the air and the ground seemed to shift.

Vincent struggled to stand up, though under the immense power of the wind he could not move. Suddenly, he felt a tremendous wave of pressure wash over him, so strong it was like he was being suffocated under tonnes of water. He felt the tree break away from behind him and he flew backwards, only to feel himself smash into another solid object. His hands stretched out and grasped at something. Something in front of him, unsure of what it was. He gathered that it was probably a tree limb that he had latched onto as he was flung through the air. But something wasn't right.. He realized that the thing he was holding onto in front of him was pushing against his throat as well. Slowly he opened his eyes, to see what was going on... And he froze. 

The wind had ceased it's howling. The dust was beginning to settle while leaves slowly drifted down to the ground around him. The whirlwind of light had disappeared. And now, he was looking into the eyes of the monster, the old creature Chaos and Hojo had spoke of. Wrath.

What he was holding onto was not a tree limb like he had thought he grasped, but rather the wrist of the demon that was now holding up him several feet into the air and pinning him against a tree. He could feel the prickling feeling of scaled talons gripping at his neck as he held him there.

The demon was massive, at least to that of a human's standard, standing at least ten feet tall. It's scaled body was as dark as night. Armour covered it's chest, abdomen, arms, and the lower part of the demons face. It seemed to look like it was a made from fiery-hot rocks; they crackled and sizzled as heat rose from it, shifting in color from red to yellow to black as the breeze hit it. The gentle 'whooshing' sound could be heard as the demon swished it's long tail back and fourth behind him. Sharp, long spines seemed to stem all the way up the creatures tail and to the base of it's neck, while the beasts head was covered in spikes that took on the same appearance of it's armour. And the eyes..those pure black eyes with the jagged white pupils glared at Vincent as though he was trying to burn holes through the man.

Truth be told, Vincent was pretty sure that is what the demon was trying to do.

**'Let me out!'** Chaos growled menacingly within him as he scratched at the barriers inside Vincent, attempting to break free.

'No, not yet!' he fired back at him as he looked at the demon, knowing his friend, the one he had come to care for so much, was in there somewhere.

A low grumble came from Wrath and Vincent could feel the talons tightening around his neck. Vincent winced as gasped as he grasped at the wrist of the demon.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" sang the happy voice of Hojo. The man walked out into the rubble, his white suit looking untarnished by the damage that just happened around them. "My perfect specimen," he purred as he looked at the creature with pride.

Vincent ground his teeth together with rage as he looked at the monster named Hojo. "He is not a specimen. And he is most certainly not yours." He turned his attention back to the demon in front of him, eyes softening a bit. "Please Cid, I know you're in there," he said, voice strained from the force upon his throat.

The creature only answered with another growl and tightened his grip even more, causing Vincent to groan with pain.

**'Let me out!'** Chaos roared again, growing ever more enraged. **'I have to destroy him! It's either him, or us!'**

Vincent ignored the screams of the demon within him and pushed farther. He knew that Cid was in there somewhere and he knew the man could hear him. He just...had to try. "Cid, d-don't do this," Vincent pleaded as he clawed at the arm of the demon. He began to feel lightheaded and he gasped to try and get more air into his lungs, but the attempt seemed to fruitless.

"He's not going to listen to you. He's my puppet now," Hojo continued as he raised the protomateria of Wrath's in front of him. He turned his gaze to Vincent's and smiled smugly. "Doesn't matter what you say. As long as I hold this," he said as he waved it back and forth in the air, "he will obey my every word."

Vincent coughed as the muscles in his throat struggled to allow more air inside of him. No, he couldn't let this happen. He couldn't die here. And he most certainly couldn't allow Cid to be controlled by Hojo. "Cid. List-listen to me. I...love you Cid... And I'm sorry...I didn't stop this...sooner. Don't let...him do this...to you. Now wake up!" he growled breathlessly.

He could hear Hojo laughing in the background, just barely making out some of the mocking the scientist made about 'bonds of love' and 'it's useless', but tried to pay no attention to it. Everything around him seemed to be fading away on him, like the focus was just settling on the demon in front of him and everything around them was disintegrating. And then for a moment, just a brief moment, Vincent saw it. Those dark black and white eyes flickered to the oh-so-familiar deep-sea blue ones of Cid's before turning back into the demonic eyes he had been staring into.

Vincent smiled weakly. "'There you are," he managed to croak out. 

The talons around Vincent's neck loosened a bit and soon, let him go completely. The gunman fell to the ground with a heavy thud, leaving him gasping for the air he so needed. Wrath backed up, the ground thundering beneath his heavy feet as he stepped back enough. The demon gripped at his head, shaking it rapidly. Vincent took this time to scramble up to his feet as he regained control of himself, managing to level out his breathing once more.

"What are you doing?!" Hojo yelled at the demon, gripping the protomateria tightly in his hand. "Don't back away! Kill him!"

The materia flared in Hojo's hand. Wrath flared his wings and raised his head to the sky, releasing the most brutal roar, sounding more ferocious than Bahamut himself. 

'Do we really have to do this?' Vincent questioned the demon inside of him.

**'Like I said. It's either him, or us...'**

Vincent closed his eyes as his heart sank in his chest just a bit more. 'Cid...'

Wrath charged at Vincent once more, raising a tightly clenched fist into the air to bring down upon his foe, but was caught off guard when he was temporarily blinded by a bright light. Wrath hissed as he closed his eyes once more. Upon opening them again, his eyes settled on the bright amber eyes of the demon in front of him with a five-barreled gun pointed at his head. 

"Don't think that you can kill me that easy," he spoke calmly.

Wrath chuckled in his deep, malicious tone, grinning ear-to-ear. "Chaos. It's been far too long..."


	17. Chapter 17

The Rise Of Wrath - Chapter 17

by adarkworldfantasy, Aug 9, 2012, 12:47:39 PM  
Literature / Fan Fiction / Horror

_They were there from the beginning, before time even began. They were there to see the first stars and moons burst to life into the sky. There when the planet came into existence. There to watch the sun rise and fall upon the land. There to see the grass and trees grow and the oceans flow, and to see the clouds shift through the sky. It was beautiful, pristine. Paradise. Upon seeing the new land before them, their creator came to them, telling them that this was their new home, one that they were to cherish and protect._

_The two were brothers, in their minds, each of them a part to one whole. One took to the land, the other to the skies. Though there were many differences between them, they existed together in harmony, exploring the home that they were to protect._

_Years passed since the dawn of the new planet, and the brothers were just as close as they were the first day that they came into creation. One day, their creator came to them with a prophecy; one that spoke of the two going to war, one brother was to fall while the other was to claim Omega's power and decide the fate of the planet. The prophecy shook the two to their cores. Through the years they had lived, neither brother had ever thought they would become enemies, for their bonds seemed unbreakable._

_Though as time went on, the brothers became more distant. Despite their efforts to prove the prophecy wrong, things were not the same. The one brother took the the skies more often, trying to avoid further conflict between them, to keep their bond safe. Yet the other watched with rage and animosity as his brother took freely to the skies while he could not._

_As time passed, the rage within the one brother became too powerful. Fire burst from the ground, disintegrating anything in his path. Earth quaked beneath him as he traveled the planet, looking for a way to rise to the skies himself. Soon the destruction became too much and his creator was given no choice but to seal him inside the very planet that he was to protect. It was then he was given the name Wrath._

_The second brother was crushed by the loss of his brother, stirring a rage within him as well. He spent his days attacking the very planet in an attempt to break his brother free from his cage, causing madness and destruction around him. He too was soon sealed within the planet, his spirit being locked inside the lifestream that circled the core where his brother lay. He was then given the name Chaos._

_Even though the two brothers asked why this was happening to them, their creator would not answer. Instead he merely spoke of a day where the two would have to decide upon the fate of the planet and of themselves; that they were the key to the planet's fate. He then bid the brothers farewell and continued on his journey, leaving the brothers to dwell within their own thoughts until judgment day was to come._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I must say, I didn't think that we would meet again under such circumstances." Chaos' eyes shifted to the smug-looking scientist off to the side, eye twitching slightly as he stared him down, before turning his attention back to Wrath once more.

"Nor did I," Wrath added as he too briefly looked at the man that was the catalyst to all that happened. "However," he continued, "It doesn't change what must be done."

Amber eyes narrowed as he looked at the demon past the sights of the gun. Yes, he knew what had to be done. He knew that the two of them were created for a purpose in the universe, even though the full reason as to why escaped them. The day that they were created, they existed together in harmony, much like brothers, until the prophecy came forth. "I'm sorry that it had to come to this," he said as he pulled back one of the triggers.

Wrath chuckled quietly, lips pulling into a half-grin and revealing sharp and ragged looking teeth. "I'm not. This is the day I have been waiting for!" The words were barely out of his mouth when he launched himself at his nemesis.

With a sharp flap of his wings, Chaos took to the sky. He twirled in the air and fired the weapon in his hand. Apparently Wrath had been expecting this and Chaos watched as he raised his left arm, shielding himself from the bullet as it collided with the armor upon his forearm. Chaos darted through the air, continuing to to fire off more shots at him, managing to land some blows where he intended. He knew that Wrath was strong and his armor impenetrable, however that was his downfall in another sense. For what he gained in strength, he lacked in speed and agility. It was only a matter of which would win in this battle.

Wrath roared with annoyance as another bullet found it's way between two shield of armor and blew through his muscle. He glared at the other as Chaos raised himself into the sky once more. He reached behind him, crawls digging into the tree he knew was there. He wrenched the timber from the ground with a strong snap and launched it at the demon, making it look as if it weighed nothing to him.

Chaos snapped his wings once more to avoid the makeshift weapon, but was not quick enough. One of the branches caught the side of his wing as he was moving, causing him to loose his balance and send him spiraling down towards the ground.

Wrath charged when he saw his chance, using his powerful legs to launch him himself into the air, just high enough to grab hold of Chaos' ankle. He smirked as he slammed his opponent into the ground mercilessly, causing dust and leaves to go flying. He raised his fist to land another blow upon him, but was not expecting the quick recovery Chaos had made.

Next thing he knew he was staring down the barrel of the Death Penalty. He jolted his head enough to avoid the full damage of the weapon, however felt the shredding pain of the bullets piercing his neck and side of his face. He roared with rage and was about to take his fury out on the demon below him when he felt the sting of a bullet slicing through his wrist that held Chaos down.

Wrath released Chaos' ankle just quick enough for him to take off into the sky once more before the enraged demon had a chance to land another blow. The old creature growled into the air, red eyes zeroing in on Chaos as he hovered in the air. "It's just like you to run away. Come down here, you coward!!" He picked up yet another tree and threw it towards Chaos, though the demon avoided it this time. He sniffed once more, glaring at his old friend. "Pathetic."

Chaos made a noise of disgust. "Who are you calling pathetic? If anyone is pathetic, it would be you!" He folded his wings together and dove towards Wrath once more. At the last second he dashed to the side, just barely missing Wrath's claws in the process. He raised the gun in his hand, aiming at a weak spot in Wrath's back. It would have worked, had it not been for Wrath's other move...

Wrath swung his tail around, using it to wrap around Chaos' right wing and snap it. A blood-curdling screech came from the demon as he felt the bones and tendons snap in his wing, causing him to collide with the ground with great force. He felt himself being pulled upwards by the armour on his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, they were level to that of Wrath's.

"You're a coward," Wrath growled. He reached up to grab at Chaos' left wing, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he broke the other wing as well. Wrath laughed as he tossed the demon to the ground, watching him twitch and attempt to flap his wings. "Unfair is it? To not be able to fly..." He brought up one of his large, dragon-like feet and smashed it into Chaos' back, pinning him against the ground. "Now you know how it feels!" he said as he dug the claws of his toes into his enemy's back.

Chaos howled with both pain and fury as he was pinned down, the claws from the demon's toes digging into his shoulders and neck. Never before had he ever been in so much pain. Then again, no one had ever been as strong as Wrath either. He managed to turn his head enough to look up at the familiar face once more."What ever happened to you?"

"To me? What do you think happened to me?!" He lifted the foot he had been pinning down Chaos with and used it to kick the demon across the clearing. He smirked slightly as he watched the winged demon smash into another tree. Wrath extended his right hand out to his side as he walked closer to his fallen rival. Dark smoke started pouring out of his hand, shifting and spinning in the air until it seemed to turn into something more solid. 

Chaos watched as the dark matter turned into a sword, one unlike any other he had seen before. It was almost indescribable. It was a large broadsword, a malicious looking one at that too. Steel looked as dark as night, though the center of the blade seemed to slow and shimmer shades of red and yellow like it was on fire. Jagged looking edges, one that would tear a person to shreds in one swing.

Wrath dragged it along the ground until he came close to Chaos. "If only you knew, just what it was like," he grumbled. He kicked the demon once more so he was on his back. He kicked away the gun out of Chaos' hand before using his large draconian foot to hold him down once more. "Even while imprisoned in the planet, you were still freer than I." Wrath jabbed the sword into the ground beside Chaos' head, slicing off a few of the bone-like pieces of armor from the demon's head in the process. He paid no attention to his brother's screams as he continued on. "You could still roam free throughout the lifestream, able to touch the very thing that gave everything life around us. And where was I? In the core!" he yelled as he dug his claws deeper into Chaos' chest. "I was caged inside that pit of fire while you still roamed free! And for what!? For us to go to war!? To see who would be the first to claim Omega's power?!"

Dark coloured liquid began to pour out of Chaos' mouth. Breathing was becoming nearly impossible with the pressure being put on his chest. He could feel his armour cracking and splintering beneath the pressure, jabbing into his body and creating more wounds. He clawed and pulled at the other's foot in an attempt to loosen the pressure even just for a moment, yet he was not succeeding in the least. He opened up his eyes, pain etched into every fiber of them. "Wrath...Omega's gone," he managed to croak out with what little air he had left.

Wrath seemed to reel a bit at this, staring at his brother with disbelief. "N-no...that can't be," he said, gripping the handle of the blade tighter. He removed his foot from Chaos' chest, only to reach down and grab his shoulder and hold him up in front of him. "What did you do?!" he growled at him, face only inches apart from the other.

Chaos gasped in the air that he needed desperately at that moment. Once his vision cleared a bit more, he shifted his line of sight to the man dressed in white that had been watching the whole time. "Well...why don't you ask him?"


	18. Chapter 18

The Rise Of Wrath - Chapter 18

by adarkworldfantasy, Aug 23, 2012, 12:33:46 AM  
Literature / Fan Fiction / Horror

Wrath's dark eyes crinkled into a look of interest and confusion. He turned his gaze to the man standing in the distance, glaring at the smug look upon the man's face. Wrath tossed Chaos to the side like he was nothing and turned to face the man dressed in white. "What does he mean?" he growled as he took a few steps towards the other.

Chaos gasped in what air he could as he was freed. His hands went to his neck, rubbing the spots where Wrath had a hold of him, occasionally coughing until he could breathe properly. He attempted sitting up, but the pain from his broken wings was too great at the moment to attempt, even with his healing abilities.

Hojo's grin faltered somewhat as Wrath slowly approached him. "What are you talking about?" he asked, voice laced with a hint of nervousness.

"What happened to Omega?" he growled even louder. His footsteps became heavier and more prominent as he approached the scientist, the twisted looking blade in his hand dragging against the ground, leaving a trail behind it.

Hojo straightened up a bit, trying to regain a bit of his composure, shrugging his shoulders slightly to straighten out the crinkles of the suit. "Unforeseen events took place and amidst the chaos, he was destroyed, much to my dismay."

"What happened?!" Wrath raised the sword in the air as he was about to pounce on the scientist.

However Hojo wasn't going to stand for this. He raised the protomateria in his hand in front of him and Wrath came crashing to his knees. The old creature growled as he fell to the ground in a giant heap, letting the sword fall beside him as he clutched his chest. "Pitiful. You already forgot who holds the key to your freedom, didn't you?" He chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "If it wasn't for that loathsome heap of trash over there," he motioned to Chaos, "Omega would still be here."

Chaos looked towards Hojo, amber eyes glaring at the man that dared call him that. "Look who's talking," Chaos snarled as he heard the remark.

"Silence monster!" he yelled at Chaos as he pointed an accusing finger at him. "You were the one who killed Omega! You ruined the whole plan!"

Wrath managed to turn his head to look behind him, dark eyes settling upon the creature still laying on the ground. "You killed him?" he asked, his voice a mix of rage and surprise.

Chaos looked at Wrath. The look in his brother's eyes was something he could not describe. He looked away for a moment before returning his gaze to him. "I had no choice."

Wrath lowered his head, staring at the ground beneath him as he dwelled on the thoughts infiltrating his head. So, Omega was killed? And by Chaos no less? More rage began to bubble up inside him, causing him to shake even more where he sat.

"He had every choice in the world," Hojo started once more, fueling his argument against Chaos. The man began pacing, leaving a well flattened patch of earth beneath his feet, as he glowered at the winged demon. "He however decided to feed his own needs rather than the needs of others." He turned his attention back to Wrath of whom was still clutching at his chest and breathing raggedly. "Just like he did to you before you were locked away. Just like he has always been. He is the one to blame for this."

Slight panic flared in Chaos, knowing what would come of this if Wrath believed the man's words. He knew that his rage would get the best of him and there would be nothing but destruction before them if he did not tell him the truth. "He's lying brother," he grumbled as he rolled over onto his stomach. He gasped as his broken wings folded as he turned, shooting pain through his body once more. He opened his eyes to see Hojo glaring at him, and he gladly returned the look. "He took over Omega!" he yelled at him, hoping that his brother would hear his words.

Wrath's eyes opened and shot towards Chaos as the words were spoken, then turned them back to Hojo. "You did what?" he asked, the words dripping with poison.  
"He lies! That's all he's ever done!" he screeched in that horrid voice of his. "He's trying to-"

"I'm not lying!" Chaos interrupted as he braced himself to sit up. He locked his eyes with his brother as he began to tell him the story, hoping that he would believe him. "He took over Omega, in order to become this supreme being he thinks he should be. He was going to destroy the planet, destroy everything so he could be the one to take the lifestream. He would have even killed you in the process."

"Silence you stupid, insignif-"

"Is this true?" growled Wrath as he attempted to stand up, though the power of the protomateria was stronger than he thought and he could not move an inch from where he was.

"Of course not!" he yelled as he waved his arms throught he air. The man knew he was slowly loosing his battle with the demon and the look of panic was becoming ever more prominent in his features. He began to pace more and more, his face looking almost as pale as the suit he wore. "Look at what he did to you?" he said as he pointed at Wrath. "Abandoning you like he did all those times, not saving you when you were imprisoned! He's nothing but a monster!" Hojo held up the protomateria in his hand, his knuckles turned white from gripping it so tightly. He extended his hand towards Wrath as he looked at Chaos with a look that could kill. "Destroy him like the little rat he is!"

Wrath growled as he felt his body beginning to move without his permission this time. His vision blurred, seeing everything as shades of dark grey. His hand snapped to the side, grabbing the sword beside him and leapt towards Chaos. He reached down and grabbed the demon by the back of the neck before Chaos even had a chance to move and spun him around to pin him to a tree. He swung the sword around and was about to slash at the demon's head when something stopped him. It was a sudden, sharp and thundering pain inside his chest, something that made him stop moving. As if there was another force inside of him fighting off the effects of the protomateria. Wrath mentally took a step back, wondering what was happening to him when he felt something scratching at his mind, telling him...no, commanding him to stop.

 **"What is this?"** he growled inside his head when he felt something, like a presence.

 _'Don't hurt him. You've done enough. Don't hurt him,'_ the presence repeated over and over. Wrath shook his head, thinking he was imagining things when the voice spoke again before disappearing. _'Don't hurt Vincent.'_

 **'Vincent?** It took a few moments before the old creature realized what the voice was inside him. It wasn't the strength of the protomateria that was making him imagine this. It was is host. It was a shock to him that his host had that much power in him to make him override the strength of the protomateria, not to mention his own powers, in order to cease him from attacking. Suddenly Wrath could feel his breathing calm slightly and soon his vision began to come back to him.

Chaos gripped at the blade in front of him, feeling the hot metal beginning to burn him. He winced as he tried to pull back from it, though it was fruitless to try. He opened his eyes a bit more and looked at Wrath through he waves of heat coming off the blade. "Why stop now Wrath?"

Wrath sighed as he looked into the bright amber eyes of his brother, as if searching for answers within them. "What you said...is it true?"

Choas was taken back, not expecting that Wrath would question him on the subject; he was more so a kill first, ask questions later type. "Yes. I would not lie of such things," he spoke honestly. He saw his brothers eyes flicker for a moment as is he was somehow second-guessing his actions. "Wrath...you know me better than this. Do you think that I would have let him try to destroy this planet, knowing that you would go with it?"

Wrath's eyes furrowed slightly as he stared at him. "Why would you do that? I thought you didn't care."

"You're my brother. I would never let anything happen to you if I had the power to stop it." He spoke quietly, hoping that his brother would come to see that he meant those words truthfully.

Wrath was silent for a few moments, simply staring at his brother as if waiting to see if he could detect any lies from him. A quiet huff escaped the large demon and he looked at the Hojo out of the corner of his vision. "Unfortunately, I have to do as he says." He looked back at Chaos, his eyes no longer holding the anger inside of them as they had before. "As long as he holds that protomateria, I will have to do his bidding." 

Chaos was about to protest when he noticed a different look in his brother's eyes, one that he could only describe as...mischievous. Then he heard a quiet chuckle.

"But," Wrath continued as he brought his face closer to Chaos', "there's nothing saying you can't stop him from doing that. Is there?"


	19. Chapter 19

The Rise Of Wrath - Chapter 19

by adarkworldfantasy, Nov 16, 2012, 12:55:18 AM  
Literature / Fan Fiction / Horror

It could work. If Wrath was able to take control of himself for a few moments, giving Chaos enough time to retrieve his gun and take that one shot to rid Hojo of the hold he had on his brother...it could work. They could end this here and now. Chaos looked back to his brother and nodded quickly. "Alright. What do you have in mind?" he spoke as quietly as his deep voice could go.

A deep grumble came from the draconian-like demon as he shifted a bit where he stood. "I have no plan. All I know is that you will need to move fast. I'm having a hard enough time of it as it is right now to keep from ripping you to shreds." Even though he was able to control his movements and decisions to a certain degree, the protomateria was the main force of control behind his power. He could feel the pressure of the protomateria straining on him as it was for not following the command that Hojo had been stressing upon it. He could feel his muscles twitching as they attempted to move without his orders, to rip Chaos to pieces.

Chaos could see the toll that was being taken on Wrath, the pained look in his eyes showed how much he was resisting the orders of his captor. He quickly looked around, calculating what he needed to do and how long it would take for him to complete the task. Hojo was nearly forty feet from where he was, but his gun lay about twenty feet from him now. He would have to get to that quick enough to try and disarm the man, but have to distract Wrath in some way as well to give him that time as well. He knew the second that he was to get away that Wrath would right behind him. He huffed quietly. "I'll need to subdue you somehow."

"I don't care," he replied gruffly. The strain was becoming even more powerful on him now, his whole body shook; even the armour's colours seemed to flicker more rampantly. "Just do what you have to do."

Amber eyes one more scanned over the surrounding area, making sure that his plan would work, before turning back to his brother's gaze. "Give me eight seconds." Before he even gave his brother a chance to reply, Chaos wrenched the dark sword out of the others hand and with brute force plunged it downwards, slicing the blade straight through Wrath's foot and deep into the ground. One second.

Wrath shrieked loudly as he felt himself become pinned to the ground. Even though he knew that some sort of a blow was to be coming, he didn't know what said blow was going to be. In reaction, he grabbed Chaos' shoulder and launched him through the air in order to tend to his injury. Two seconds.

Like Chaos had hoped, he was thrown into the direction of where his gun lay, though he can't say as he enjoyed the landing very much. He smashed into the ground with enough force that he flipped a couple times before coming to an abrupt stop with the help of an uprooted tree stump. He gasped as his broken and damaged wings screamed at him in protest for hitting the ground at the wrong angle, but he shoved the pain aside for now. He had to get to his gun before Wrath got free. He didn't have much time. Three seconds.

Hojo watched as the winged demon started crawling towards his gun, Death Penalty, that lay only feet away from him now. He looked over at Wrath of whom was still pinned to the ground by his own weapon, tail slicing through the air as the demon tried to free himself. "What are you doing?! KILL HIM!" he screeched as he gripped the stone in his hand more powerfully. Four seconds.

At the prominent pull of the protomateria's power, Wrath felt his body moving once more without his permission. There was a sickening noise of crunching bones and the loud sputtering of blood as Wrath ripped his sword out through his foot. He swung his blade, causing blood to fly off the dark steel and paint the ground around him. His vision clouded over just before his body turned and he felt himself launching towards Chaos. Five seconds.

The winged demon growled as he pushed himself forward with all of his might, hand coming down hard on the handle of his gun. Chaos caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, knowing that Wrath was already on the move. He raised the massive gun ahead of him and took aim, seeing the scientist already getting ready to bolt. Six seconds.

Wrath was just about to his target at this time, sword raised in the air as it was prepared to come down on Chaos' neck, though Hojo didn't wait to see if Chaos would be stopped in time. Instead he whipped around in an attempt to run away and bellowed "STOP HIM NOW!" as he went to find cover. Seven seconds.

*BANG*

The next thing Wrath knew, he felt a powerful blow against his chest, forcing all the air out of his lungs and that he couldn't move. It was as if a power switch had been turned off inside him somewhere and shut down all of his functions. He could hear a screeching noise around him but he couldn't decipher the source of it. Dark eyes slowly opened and he looked around. The dark haze that had clouded his vision not moments before was now gone. He was laying on the ground, a screen of dust floating through the air. He winced as he brought his hands to his sides and pushed himself off the ground, wanting to see what happened.

Chaos lay in the ground only a few feet from him, laying motionless on the ground except for slight movements of his ragged breathing. His sword caught his eye, and realized it was laying just a few inches from his brother's neck. He relaxed a bit, thankful that was as far as his weapon got to him.

Turning his head, he saw where the horrid screeching was coming from; it was from Hojo. The man was on his knees, clutching his arm against his chest, his white suit now adorned with a bright red colour along the sleeve and the front lapels. And resting on a patch of moss by a tree, the dark-coloured, glowing protomateria.

Wrath grinned. "Thank you, brother." He reached over and grabbed his sword and stood. He heard a weak reply of "He's all yours," from Chaos as he started making his way towards Hojo.

The dark haired man looked up, pain etched into every wrinkle of his face. Once he saw Wrath approaching closer, fear began to seep into his features as well. "S-stop, don't come any closer!" he pleaded as the demon closed the distance. His eyes scanned around him, quickly spotting the materia not far from him. He whimpered as he attempted to launch himself at the glowing orb, but his attempts were fouled as Wrath's blade came between his shredded hand and the protomateria. He looked up at the demon and cowered back, once again clutching his bullet-shattered arm to his chest.

Wrath ignored him as he leaned down and grabbed the protomateria. He held it up in front of him, gazing into the swirling light of it. He could feel his power shaking with anticipation to be reunited with it. "Finally," he whispered softly to himself before slamming the stone into his chest. His entire body jerked as if he had just been hit by lightning. He could feel his powers multiplying rapidly, his being fusing with the protomateria, now making himself complete. Though something felt odd, like something was stirring within him.

_'What's happenin'?' _spoke a voice within him.__

__Wrath snorted quietly. Of course, his host. He had never had one before, so he was going to have to get used to that idea yet. **'We're in control again,'** he replied to him. He could feel the host looking through his eyes, seeing what he could see, even testing out his muscles a bit. Then he looked to Hojo._ _

___'He's still alive?' Cid growled inside his head._ _ _

__**'For now.'** _ _

__He felt the presence within him stir with rage and hatred. _'Mind doin' me a favour? Ya know, since yer kinda usin' my body and all?'__ _

__**'What might that be?'** _ _

___'Kill that lousy son-of-a-bitch as slowly as ya can. Make him pay fer everythin' he put Vince, Chaos and us through.'_ _ _


	20. Chapter 20

The Rise Of Wrath - Chapter 20

by adarkworldfantasy, Nov 16, 2012, 1:04:48 AM  
Literature / Fan Fiction / Horror

Wrath pondered this for moment. For this 'Vincent' and himself he could understand why he wanted revenge. But for himself, Wrath, and Chaos? For demons? What kind of a human wish to hurt someone because of what they did to a demon? He definitely had a strange human for a host. **'My pleasure.'** Wrath grabbed his sword and moved towards the wounded man.

"P-please, let me go!" Hojo cried as he weakly attempted to get up and ran, though he kept falling and tripping due to the blood loss. "I helped you! I set you free back into the world! If it wasn't for me, y-you wouldn't be here!"

"I gather you are regretting that decision now?" he asked as he swung the blade and sliced open the man's left leg from the hip down to his knee.

Hojo fell to the ground, hollering in agony as he felt the warm liquid seep out of the wound. "Wr-Wrath, I, GAAAAH!" He screamed as he was grabbed by his shattered arm and lifted into the air, being dangled in front of Wrath's face, the heat from the stone-like armour beginning to burn his arm. The pain was almost too great for the scientist, and he felt himself going faint. "N-no! Don't! Stop this! I SET YOU FREE! I REMADE YOU!!" He writhed and twisted in the hold that Wrath had him in, in a futile attempt to get away. He tried grabbing the demon's forearms, but ripped his hand away when the armour burned his hand again.

Wrath made a 'hmph' noise as he jabbed his sword into the ground beside him and used his now-free hand to take hold of Hojo's other hand to keep him from flailing. He pulled man closer to his face and growled hotly into his face, "Then maybe this will teach to stop playing god." And with that, he tightened his grip on the man's arms and ripped the appendages out of the man's shoulder, creating a sickening crunching and slopping noise as muscles, tendons and bones were shredded. Hojo's body had barely dropped yet when Wrath's foot snapped out and kicked the man square in the chest, sending the man barelling backwards and smashing into a tree. He reached down and picked up his sword once more and once again made his way towards the scientist. He could see tears running down the man's face as the pain took it's toll on him, but Wrath didn't care. He loved that look in the man's eyes. And from what he could tell, his host seemed to agree with him.

"Stop...p-please," he weakly pleaded as he choked. Blood drizzled out the corner of his mouth and onto his suit, colouring it an even darker red than it already was. Hojo whimpered. "I'm begging you," he cried as he looked up at the demon standing in front of him once more.

"Did you ever stop when this host said that?" he snarled as be brought his foot down on one of the man's legs, crushing it under his heavy weight. "Did you stop when the other host said that? Or my brother?!" he screamed over top of Hojo's howls of pain before proceeding to crush the other man's legs, rendering them both useless. 

"I'm sorry! Forgive me!!" Hojo was practically hyperventilating at the pain while hot tears washed paths through the drying blood upon his face.

"And why should I let you go," the old creature asked as he wrapped his tail around the man's neck and lifted him in the air in front of him, "after all that you have done? Afterall, I am called Wrath for a reason." A quiet sob came from the man as they looked each other in the eyes. "Goodbye, Hojo," he snarled sourly. He launched the man into the air and twirled the sword in his hand to prepare it. And when the right moment came, he hurled the sword through the air impaling Hojo through the chest and binding him to a tree.

Wrath watched as he saw the final strings of life drain from the so called human, making sure he was dead for sure. Once he saw the body go completely limp, he smirked to himself. Now the ingenious, clever scientist looked more like an obscene, meaty, bird feeder. He took a deep breath, somewhat relaxing himself, before returning his attention to Chaos.

He hadn't seemed to have moved from where he was.

He slowly walked towards his brother, hoping that he was alright. He knew he hadn't had much control over himself when he was being controlled by Hojo, but Chaos was strong. He couldn't be dead. Could he? He closed the distance between the two of them and knelt down beside him. "Chaos?" There was a quiet gurgle and he saw and amber eye slowly open and look at him.

"Is it done?"

Wrath relaxed as he heard his brother's voice. He nodded, a smirk growing upon his face. "He's hanging from a tree right now if you would like to shoot at him for good measure."

Chaos actually chuckled quietly at the remark. "I think I will be fine for now." He opened his eyes, looking up at Wrath, eyes immediately drawn to the glowing sphere centered in the old creature's chest. He was silent for another couple of moments before reaching out with his one hand and resting it upon Wrath's knee. "I'm sorry brother."

Wrath's eyes furrowed slightly at the comment. "What do you mean?"

"It's my fault," he spoke quietly, eyes looking away from Wrath. "It was my fault for not having enough faith in our bond and letting the prophecy get in our way. I...I shouldn't have abandoned you like that, and allowed you to get locked away." Chaos had been carrying the guilt with him of what happened all those years ago, never being able to let go of what happened. And now that he had the chance to say this to his brother, he was damn well going to say it.

Wrath was silent, with the exception of a quiet sigh that came from him. For as much as it enraged him all those years ago, for some reason...it didn't bother him as much now. Perhaps it was because of the protomateria, perhaps it was the will of his host somehow calming him down. Who knows, maybe he had grown soft in his older age, and perhaps more wise that he realized it was not his brother that had enraged him all those years, but his envy that drove him mad. "It was just as much my fault Chaos. I should have not let it get between us either. I do not blame you for what happened." He looked over Chaos' form, noting that some of the wounds were already healing fairly well. Thank Gaia for their supernatural ability to heal. "Speaking of which, what did happen to Omega?"

Chaos grumbled as he attempted to sit up, but soon found himself being lifted with the help of his brother. Once he was upright he sat cross legged on the earth floor, stretching his still-healing wings a bit. "He was destroyed a few years ago. Hojo took possession of the host for Omega. He devised a plan where he tricked the planet into thinking it was dying, and so Omega rose to take the lifestream to another planet." Chaos hung his head slightly before looking back into Wrath's dark, oily eyes. "I'm sorry brother, but he had to be destroyed."

Wrath nodded in reply. It was better for Omega to have been destroyed while under the control of Hojo rather than to let him go. Even he would have done the same in that position. "I guess that means the prophecy no longer stands with Omega gone," he said as he looked into the sky. He felt a pressure inside of his chest, one that made him feel sick. All that hate and rage over a prophecy, and one that would not come to pass not less.

"I suppose not," the winged demon replied. Though something had not sat right with him. The more and more he had thought about the prophecy and what it had said, it didn't make sense. Omega was gone, even though Wrath had nothing to do with it. Why was it that Wrath did not emerge from the earth when Omega rose? Was it simply because Omega was tricked into thinking the planet was dying? But if that was the case, then why wasn't Wrath tricked into that as well? What if... "Then again...maybe it did hold some wisdom to it."

"What do you mean?"

Chaos closed his eyes as he remembered the day that the prophecy was spoken to them. "Two omnipotent beings, divided by design, hold the key to Omega. Divided, Wrath and Chaos lie before us, and as the balance breaks, so shall Omega break. Together, the seal shall be set, preserving the luminous body forevermore," he recited. "Perhaps, what it was actually saying was if the two of us were pitted against each other that destruction lays before us...but when we were to stand together, the balance will be preserved, as if we were a back-up safety switch. That together we can keep the planet safe, just as Omega could have."

Wrath contemplated this theory for a few moments before chuckling. "Maybe you're right. I had never thought of it that way."

"I always did have a better knack at solving problems than you did though."

Wrath huffed, though returned the grin that Chaos was making. "Watch it Chaos, I can still kick your ass if I want to."

The demon chuckled once more before attempting to stand up on his own, though some of his muscles and broken bones reminded him that movement was not a good idea at the moment.  
Wrath saw the weak attempt Chaos made to get up and he took pity upon him. He stood up, but not before picking up Chaos and holding him in his arms. "Where were you wanting to go?"

Chaos was surprised as he was lifted into the air and held against Wrath's chest. Surprisingly though, the armour didn't burn him not like it had before. Maybe it was because he had the protomateria now and he was able to control his powers even more. "I think we should head back to Cid and Vincent's home. That is unless you plan on leaving?"  
Wrath shook his head. "I have bee locked in the core of this planet for millions of years Chaos, away from this land and my brother as well. I have no where else that I would rather be."

Chaos smiled and relaxed in his brother's arms, allowing his eyes to close once more as he focused on healing more of his body.

They started walking their way through the ruins of the battle, making their way to their hosts' home. "May I ask you something though?" When he saw Chaos look up at him, he continued. "When were you bound to your host? And how do your host and mine know each other? This one...seems to have a strong connection to yours."

Chaos snorted softly before closing his eyes once more and relaxing. "It's been quite some time since I have been bound in this form, I can't actually remember how long it has been now. It all began with Hojo and another named Lucrecia. I was put in this form to restore the life of Vincent when Hojo had killed him," he explained, playing through some of Vincent's memories and his own. "And I have been in this body every since. You're host's name is Cid, a friend of Vincent's. They have known each other for quite some time now, though I'm sure their bond has surpassed that of just mere friendship now," he said, recounting what Vincent had said in an attempt to get Cid's attention when Wrath took over.

"Seems so," he admitted. "This...Cid...he actually asked me to kill Hojo, in order to exact revenge for Vincent, yourself and I."

A quiet chuckle came from Chaos. "Cid is, well, a very...unique human. Though he seems a bit harsh and stern on the outside, he cares deeply for those around him."

"Why would he care about you or I? We're demons."

"That is of no matter to Cid. From what I have seen, whether you're human or not, he does not believe in doing to another what Hojo had done to us. He probably views it as unfair to us for having our free will taken from us and to be treated as puppets."

Wrath still didn't understand it. He knew some of humans as he was caged, learning things about them bit-by-bit, but he had never found one to care for any other creature but themselves. "Such a strange human."

"Aren't they all?"


	21. Chapter 21

The Rise Of Wrath - Chapter 21

by adarkworldfantasy, Nov 16, 2012, 1:18:01 AM  
Literature / Fan Fiction / Horror

When the pilot started to wake from his slumber, he could have sworn he heard someone using a jackhammer somewhere in his immediate vicinity. Though he soon realized that it was merely the sound of his blood pounding in his ears from a headache the size of the Northern Cave. Just where the hell was he? He could remember being in the forest. Did he see Hojo? Was he dead now? Hell, did he pass out after the battle and was still in the forest? No that couldn't be, he didn't feel like he was laying on the ground or that he was cold. It felt like he was in bed, holding one of his pillows to his chest. But where was Vincent?

"Vince?" he spoke in a rough voice before a coughing fit overtook his ability to speak. He felt like he had swallowed a bag of steel wool and it had shredded his throat.

"I'm here Cid," came a voice close to him. 

So he was with him. He sounded close. Really close for that matter. In fact it sounded as if he was rightbeside him. Cid peeled open his eyes and tried to focus them as to where Vincent was. If he had the energy he would have jumped out of his skin, but since that wasn't the case he simply stiffened when he realized that it wasn't a pillow that Cid had been holding onto, but rather the slim frame of Vincent. "Oh, yeah, there ya are..." A soft mumble came from the gunslinger and that was about it. He seemed to be lying very still, not even opening his eyes. "Are ya alright?" he asked, concern sinking in.

"I'll be fine Cid," he spoke in a reassuring tone, though still not even opening his eyes. "I was injured badly, the healing process has just weakened me for now. I will be back to normal once I rest a bit more."

Cid sighed quietly as he rest his head back on the man's shoulder, not bothering to move away. Hell, it was quite comfortable to lay down like this. Fragments of memories slowly opened up in his mind and he tried to make sense of them, though some were too foggy to try and even make sense of. "What happened?"

"Do you wish to hear the long version or the short version?"

"Short."

"Alright. Wrath took over your body. We fought. I shot Hojo. We got Wrath's protomateria back. And thanks to Wrath's efforts, Hojo is now fertilizer."

"...Huh..." was about the only thing that Cid could reply to that. Though it did start to make sense of a few things, why he could only remember bits an pieces of what was going on. Perhaps it was like Vincent; he had said there were times when Chaos had first taken over that he could not remember what had happened during that time. When he thought back to it, he could Hojo being killed, as if he had done it himself. Then again, he did do it. So it was true. He was just like Vincent now. He had a demon inside of him.

Cid tried to look around at his surroundings, and though he couldn't move very much he was able to figure out that they were home. Back as Cid's house. "How did we get back here?

Vincent smiled lightly, able to remember some of the conversation that Chaos and Wrath had. "I think our other halves decided they would return us home rather than leave us in the forest."

Cid huffed softly. "First he wanted to take over and destroy everything and now they're lookin' out fer out well bein'? Demons are weird."

"Aren't they all?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next couple of weeks was an adjustment period, that was for sure. Cid had to get used to the fact his thoughts were no longer his own, but were at times shared with the old creature inside of him. Not to mention the moments where he could occasionally hear the whispers of the demon inside of his head. And it would be about anything; from enjoying the outdoors, to wishing he could fly to, hell, even that he was bored. Though the pilot certainly didn't mind the perks of having a spirit inside of him though. Once Cid was feeling well and able enough, he went to get back to work on a few small projects. There had been an incident where a faulty lift for a vehicle had snapped and came crashing down on Cid just as he was walking underneath it. He thought he would been nothing more but a smudge on the concrete floor, but when he looked to see what happened he realized he was actually holding the three tonne vehicle above his head as if it was nothing. That and the added bonus of when he injured himself he could heal almost instantaneously. He had actually entertained himself for a while by timing how long it took for an injury to heal. Vincent seemed to shake his head at the man and mutter phrases along the lines of 'easily amused.'

There had also been days where Cid handed over the controls to Wrath so he could cut loose as well and do as he wished. So far the demon seemed to enjoy his time running along the hillsides and through forests, with Chaos along his side. Though it was on those days he could feel the weight of Wrath's sadness upon him, knowing how Wrath felt about wishing to be able to take to the skies as his winged brother could. He felt sorry for the creature, knowing what it felt like after all. It was just like him when he wished he was able to fly at a young age, unable to wait for the day where he could.  
After a couple of weeks of getting used to the other entity, Cid started working in the shop at his home. He spent hours upon hours working, sometimes he would spend the whole day working in there. Vincent began to wonder what it was that Cid had become obsessed with as of late and would occasionally check on him. Whatever it was, it had the man's full attention. There had actually been times where Vincent had brought Cid some food and tea and the man wouldn't even notice Vincent was there.

One day, when Vincent caught a glimpse of something Cid was putting together, he had to ask. "Cid, what it is you have been trying to accomplish in here?" he asked as he looked at the strange mechanism that Cid was assembling.

"Hu?" he asked as he turned to look at the gunman. "Oh this," he said as finished tightening the one bolt. "Just a...well, kind of a gift I guess." He dropped the wrench into his hand onto the table, along with the other pile of tools he had been using, and dug into his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes.

Vincent raised an eyebrow as he looked and the unusual design of what it was. "And what might this gift be?" he inquired.

Cid looked up at him momentarily before lighting his smoke. "Uh, well, ya want the truth?" he asked as he tucked his lighter back into his pocket. Vincent nodded. Cid wiped his face with his free hand before sticking the cigarette in his mouth once more and taking another drag off it. "Well," he continued as he went to lean against the table beside Vincent, "it's...wings. I'm makin' a set of wings."

"Wings?" Vincent repeated with a tone of confusion. He looked back at the mechanism, noting the large size of it. But why would... Vincent smiled and turned back to look at Cid, of whom seemed to look a bit...embarassed? "You're making wings for Wrath?"

Cid shrugged and crossed his arms. "Yeah," he admitted quietly while kicking at an invisible stone on the floor. "Feel kinda sorry fer the guy. Wants ta fly like Chaos does and...well, I know what that's like."

Vincent chuckled and patted Cid reassuringly on the shoulder. "I think he will like it. Does he know?"

Cid shook his head. "Nah, been tryin' ta keep it to myself." He looked at the machine he had sitting on a prop for the moment. "Think he'll like it? Or is he gonna go all wrathy and shit?"

Vincent laughed quietly as he looked back at the machine. "I think he will enjoy it once he tries it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are we doing out here?" Wrath questioned his brother as they continued their climb up the mountain side. He quiet enjoyed the run of the countryside for the day, though he had never been to this place and Chaos seemed quite adamant about going to this place.

"There's something Cid wanted you to have. It's waiting up here," he explained to him. He continued walking up the rocky slope, smirking along the way to himself, until they finally reached the cliff peak he had been waiting for.

Wrath grunted as he climbed the final few steps. He saw Chaos standing at the end of the cliff, the setting sun seeming to highlight his brother's body to make it look like he was glowing completely red. "What is it?"

"Here," he spoke as he pointed to something on the ground.  
Wrath approached him and stopped to stand at his side, staring in bewilderment at the sight before him. "Are those wings?"

"They are." Chaos turned to look up at his brother, smirking slightly. "They belong to you now?"

Dark eyes shifted between his brother and the strange wings laying on the ground. "What do you mean?"

Chaos chuckled and leaned down, grabbing hold of a small handle on the top of the mechanism. "Your host, Cid, is a well known mechanic. He can build anything if he puts his mind to it. From what I understand, he felt sorry for you not having the ability to fly. So he made this for you?"

Wrath felt bewildered as he looked at the wings. They were massive, large enough that they possibly could carry his weight. But how? "I don't understand, how will it work?"  
"Not to worry," he replied as he lifted the machine and walked behind Wrath, "Cid showed Vincent how to work this. That being said, I know how to start it." He lifted it so the machine rested between Wrath's shoulders and tossed a couple straps over the top. He proceeded to help attach the wings to him as Cid had shown Vincent, then turned on the device. There was a quiet hum that came from the wings as they quietly shifted along the demon's sides as if they were his own.

"I think you're ready."

Wrath looked at him and then to the wings that seemed to still themselves at his sides. "How does it work?"

"Even I am not sure exactly how it works, but from what I heard, it's supposed to interpret your movements and fly accordingly."

_'Trust me, it'll work,'_ Wrath heard in his mind.

**'Are you sure?'**

_'I'm the best damn mechanic there is out there, I know what I'm doin'! I'll even give ya tips when yer flying.'_

"Are you ready?" Chaos asked, watching the confused and almost frightened look upon his brother's face.

_'Come on, let's go! Go jump off that cliff there and we'll see what we can do.'_

Wrath rolled his eyes. Well that was a comforting statement. "Alright," he said hesitantly as he stood at the edge of the cliff.

"Alright then, let's go." And with that, Chaos dove off the cliff and started spiraling downwards through the deep ravine.

Wrath shook his head, as if to get rid of the lingering fear that was trying to set inside of him. Maybe this would work. After all, why would Cid create something for him if he knew the both of them could get killed in the process. "Alright," he said as he jumped off the edge of the cliff. Wind started rushing past him as he picked up momentum. He was already closing the distance between himself and Chaos and he didn't feel like he was slowing down any. And they were diving even closer to the bottom of the ravine. Fear started to take over a bit more when he felt Cid struggling to take control a bit more. He closed his eyes and was about to ask what he was trying to do when suddenly he felt a quick jerk that cut him off. He opened his eyes once more to see that he was no longer going down, but rather leveling out and flying straight through the air.  
He was actually flying.

"How does it feel?" Chaos called to him from his side.

Wrath grinned as he looked towards his brother then turned his attention to his wings. He watched as his wings seemed to work all by themselves as if they truly were his own. He laughed as he looked forwards, seeing a hillside coming up. Cid once again took control a bit more and tilted his body to avoid the slope they were approaching and darted upwards to fly above the trees. "I feel...free."


	22. Epilogue

As of now, Cid was leaning against the deck railing of his house, smoke in one hand and a cold beer in the other. He had been pondering many things during the past weeks, though one was most prominent in his mind. One that he had tried to leave be for now.

"You're eyebrows are too close together again," he heard Vincent speak. He chuckled and looked to the side to see Vincent leaning against the railing beside him now. "What is on your mind?"

Cid stared at him for a moment, looking at how the setting sun was highlighting his beautiful features even more. His mind flashed back to the time in the forest, where he as Wrath had pinned Vincent to a tree; the look of fear upon his face and the hurt. And those words...

"Just a long day I guess," he said as he looked back out at the darkening sky. He sighed quietly and took the last swig of his beer before setting it down on the railing. "Wrath seemed to enjoy himself today."

Vincent nodded as he turned his attention to the sunset as well. "I think he will be wanting to do that more often. They stood there for a while in silence, listening to the chirping of the birds in the trees and the rustle of leaves as the breeze passed through them.

"Vince...how much do ya remember that day Wrath and Chaos fought?" he asked finally.  
Vincent looked back at Cid, noting the look upon the man's face. It was as if he was saddened by something. "I remember enough. Why do you ask?" He turned so he was facing the man, his one arm propped on the edge of the railing.

Cid sighed and looked down at the cigarette in his hand. He took the last drag from it before butting it out against the side of the railing and tossing it to the ground. "I can only remember some of it. But there's one thing that's been buggin' me fer a while. But I don't know if it was just a hallucination or whatever. But I coulda sworn...that there was somethin' ya said ta me."

Vincent stiffened slightly. He felt a lump developing in his throat and he quickly swallowed it down. "What might that be?"

"You said you loved me." He stared at the ground for a while longer before turning his attention back the gunman. "Did ya really say that?" Vincent didn't speak and soon the red eyes that were looking at him shifted to where Cid had been staring just a moment ago. Cid straightened up and turned to face the man. "So ya did."

Vincent took his arm off the railing and backed up a step from the man, as if he was worried the man would lash out at him if he was to stand any closer. "I did," he admitted quietly. He looked back into Cid's blue eyes, trying to find any hint of disgust within him. "Does this upset you?"

Cid only smirked slightly and shook his head. "Nah. Makes me feel better. Thought I was goin' crazy," he said as he stepped closer to him, bringing his hands up to rest on the man's shoulders. He was silent for a couple seconds before saying, "Ta be honest, I've been hidin' my feelin's as well." Vincent looked him in the eyes finally and he started to explain. "Never wanted ta say anythin' though. Not sure why."

"Since when did you have feelings for me?" he questioned curiously.

"Ta be honest," he started then shrugged soon after, "no fuckin' clue. Just one day it kinda sprung ta mind. Not sure when it all started."

They stared at each other for a few silent moments, each of them playing over the memories of the past months that had went by; even within all of the hell and drama that had happened, there were still highlights throughout the times where they sat together in solitude, knowing that they were safe as long as the two of them stayed together, talked to each other and revealed secrets to one another that they would not tell another soul.

Cid sucked in a bit of breathe once he realized he had been holding it for a while and tried to relax. Then heard a quite whisper of 'Just kiss him already,' echo in his mind. Did Wrath sound annoyed? Cid inwardly shook his head. Demons... But, why waste good advice? Swallowing the lump in his throat he leaned forward and pressed his lips against the other man's. He felt the gunman kiss back and they stood like that for what didn't feel like long enough. He hadn't realized just how long he had been waiting to do that. When they broke apart he looked back into the man's eyes and replied.

"Ya know, when I thought of tellin' ya I never thought that ya'd like me in that way."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Cause...I'm weird and fuckin' crazy?"

Vincent laughed at that, thinking that was the typical Cid Highwind reasoning for everything. He tilted his head forwards to rest his forehead against Cid's, continuing to look into his eyes. "When you think of if it Cid, aren't we all?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading and commenting! I really hope you enjoyed it all <3


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